Angels of Alexandria
by Anastaisya
Summary: As the world begins to reject what it once was, many are forced to flee to Alexandria, the last haven of magic. When Sephiroth Crescent must also seek refuge here, he finds himself feeling inferior and unappreciated...that is, until he meets Kuja Branford, a peculiar, yet beautiful mage who seems to idolize him. Now, with a threat of war on the horizon, will either of them survive?
1. Eyes on Me

_Author's Note: When the idea of creating a new story hit me, it was directly parallel with a need for Kuja and Sephiroth. I then decided to incorporate a handful of my favorite, miscellaneous couples, so here we are!_

* * *

Of all of the schools I could have been transferred to, I never would have expected something quite like Alexandria Academy. I mean, it was certainly a learning establishment, but it seemed more like a castle than a school. The building itself was four stories of white brick and arched windows and doorways and a roof of pitch-black, slate shingles. The structure was very impressive but the surrounding grounds were breathtaking: at least ten acres of evenly trimmed grass, perfect, rowed hedges, and a somewhat expansive lake, all enclosed by a six-foot, wrought-iron fence. The place was beautiful.

There was a very heavy sense of regality to the academy, but an even heavier sense of defeat in my mind. To find out that nearly every one of your soon-to-be fellow students was just as (if not more) talented than you? It makes someone feel… unappreciated.

Don't get me wrong. Things like magic, swordsmen, and strange races happened all over the world, but a majority of people didn't want anything to do with it all anymore, and what was once so normal was apparently being pushed to one place: Alexandria.

Meh. I won't get all high-and-mighty and say that I deserved all of the attention and popularity that I could handle, but to be only one of the thousands of 'gifted adolescents', rather than the one-and-only, seemed to sharply reduce your importance in the eyes of those around you. At least, back in Fynn, I was either a "kick-ass dude" or I was kicking someone's ass.

I suppose that's what initiated my transferal in the first place, though. Had I not been so full of myself and attacked a teacher for reminding me that I was still just a student, I might have actually been allowed to stay at a school for more than a single year. Speaking of which, I sincerely hope Professor Mateus will wake from his coma…

Anyway, I was expelled only two weeks before summer break, so my mother simply didn't register me to finish elsewhere. Because of that, I'm now an eighteen-year old junior, and it's humiliating. At least, it would be, were one full third of the junior class not eighteen as well.

"What? Over thirty percent?" I incredulously asked Principal Jenova, a tall, red-eyed, white-haired woman. Her entire body seemed to resonate maternity, and I was strangely comforted by it.

"Indeed. Thirty-two-point-seven percent, actually. However, forty-four-point-six percent of the senior class is at or above the age of nineteen, so don't feel too unusual," she replied, a warm smile on her face. "As you may have noticed, our school's populous is comprised of exceptionally skilled youths, many of whom were ostracized, overwhelmed, or uncontrollable in their previous environments. They were forced to leave out of harassment or expulsion, and, once realizing they would be accepted in our halls, would end up in the registrar's office. You are no exception, Mr. Crescent. You shall always be welcome here."

I couldn't hold down the sigh that escaped my mouth, and the woman before me chuckled softly. We discussed some more about the quality of education at Alexandria Academy, and then I was shown a tour of the hallways. By the end of the orientation, it was just shy of five-o-clock, and my mother wouldn't be home from her new job at a nearby supermarket until nine. With our relocation, she was forced to accept a job with lower pay and inconvenient hours, but she had insisted that my well-being and development were far more important to her than money. I was grateful to her, but, at the same time, terribly guilty. Of course, I didn't want my own stupidity to harm my mother, but that's what had happened, and she was the one literally paying for it.

I arrived home after a five-minute walk from the academy, and headed straight for the couch. The next few hours were going to be nothing but television and, perhaps, a soda or two. Unfortunately, I was interrupted only an hour later by my neighbor, an endearingly annoying girl that had made her presence known the moment my mother and I had shown up with the moving trucks three months ago. Her name was Yuffie Kisaragi, a short-haired, short-statured spazoid, and she was a sophomore at Alexandria. Apparently, she didn't understand the idea of personal space or social boundaries, for she waltzed her way straight to my kitchen the moment the front door was opened for her, grabbed a Cherry Coke, then sprawled herself on the floor before the TV, remote in hand.

"So, you excited about Monday?" she piped. Monday was our first day of class, and only eighty-six hours away. Truth be told, I was excited, but perhaps not only with a good type of it. Anxiousness; that was more like it.

I brushed my long, silver hair out of my eyes and looked to the floor. "I suppose, but I'm just not sure of how this is going to work out. Like, I'm the new kid and I don't even really understand how the system goes down," I half-mumbled, not wanting to give away all of my uncertainty. Yuffie, though, didn't miss any of it, and rolled herself backwards in a reverse somersault, pushed up on her feet, and flung herself in reverse, perfectly landing in the middle of the couch. I barely stifled a grin at her antics, but it became present when she pretend-drunkenly slung her arm around my shoulders.

"Sephy," she began, purposefully slurring the nickname she had already branded me with. "Here's whatcha gotta do: show up. The profs are gonna pick ya out from how well ya do at yer Debut. I've told ya this already!" She then proceeded to entirely reflect her body's position, to where her legs dangled over the top of the sofa, and her head flopped loosely from the seat cushions.

"Yeah, I know… You do notice that you're gonna get lightheaded when you stand up later, right?" She shrugged playfully and, somehow, successfully managed to chug the rest of her soda while upside-down. I'll admit that her erratic behavior was very catching, but her underlying compassion was what really made her a quick friend. Yuffie always knew when something was wrong, and, as if she needed everyone to always be as happy as her, she would always try to fix it.

We sat like this for a while, watching _I Love Lucy_ reruns once she finally stopped smashing the 'Channel Up' button. Eventually, her desire for more soda and my refusal to retrieve one for her forced her to realign herself and stand. The moment she did so, she was on the floor, having narrowly missed the coffee table in the middle of the living room. I instantly burst into laughter, soon accompanied by her as she dizzily lifted herself from the carpet, the right side of her face slightly reddened.

"Dammit! I forgot that would happen!" she cackled, finding her own misfortune to be absolutely hilarious…which it obviously was. She stretched her hand out, and I grabbed it, helping her to hoist herself too her feet. With a thanks, she slowly proceeded towards the fridge. Not ten seconds after she had disappeared, there was a knock from the foyer. Since it obviously wasn't Yuffie, I was very confused.

_Who in Hell would be here, _I thought immediately, before opening the door to the most gorgeous pair of ice blue eyes I had ever seen. I became hypnotized by them, and only noticed the person around them when I felt a hand pushing my chin upwards, closing my mouth.

"Flies and all that," the person, a very androgynous – I could've easily mistaken him for a woman – male, stated smoothly, before placing his hands on both of my upper-arms and squeezing gently, then the same with my chest, then thighs, then calves. "Hmm…" He finally stood straight again, the top of his head level with my nose. He took a moment to tap thoughtfully at his lips before staring straight into my eyes, as if trying to find something hidden in them. "I see," he mulled, before turning abruptly of his heel, flipping his long, silvery-purple hair - which, strangely enough, had a same-colored tuft of two or three feathers shooting from it at the front - behind him, and starting down the walkway through my front lawn.

I, completely silenced, allowed myself to scan his body, noting the form-fitting shirt that stopped several inches above his belly-button, the slenderness of his arms and back, the incredibly tight blue jeans and belt that rode well bellow the hips…

_Those hips…_

That was probably the most beautiful waist I had ever seen on anyone, man or woman. And, trust me. I've seen plenty of both.

My eyes roamed back to his clothing. Despite the very normal and subdued colors, it was so revealing and tight.

_Tight… I wonder if everything about him is-_

"Kuja."

"Huh?"

"Kuja," he said again, smiling brightly, but maturely. I comprehended that he had stopped walking and had faced me again. "My name is Kuja. Kuja Branford. And you are?"

"U-Uh…" _Think, Sephiroth! Think! _I literally slapped myself back to reality before answering, "Sephiroth Crescent."

"Well it was nice to meet you, Sephiroth. I'll see you Monday," he finished, before climbing into the passenger seat of an insanely purple, convertible Ferrari. Behind the wheel, a mint-haired girl smiled shyly and waved, then started the car and drove off at an unexpectedly normal speed. I remained on the porch of my home for about two more minutes before, at last, I was found by my guest, whom I had entirely forgotten.

"Seph- Ah! There you are! What're you doin' out here, dork?"

I shook my head, then chuckled. "Did you just call me a socially awkward penis?"

"Maybe I did! No, wait… No! I definitely did!" she shouted, then dragged me inside once again. She plopped me on the couch, then unleashed her curiosity onto me. "So, what were you doing? Were you getting the mail? Were you smoking a cigarette? Were you getting ice cream? Were you getting cigarette-flavored ice cream? Were you smoking the mail? Were you smoking the mailman's cigarette-and-mail-flavored ice cream? Were you and the ice cream and the mailman-" She grew steadily louder and more enthusiastic as her questions grew freakier, so I finally just put my hand over her mouth so she'd be quiet. She grunted a bit, but shut up.

"Kuja Branford?" I asked, hoping she'd understand that I wanted to know who he was, but didn't want to put effort into speaking. Her eyes became incredibly wide, then narrowed to a squint in the blink of an eye. She had a small smirk on her face, and her sudden attitude shift made me very fearful of what was going on in her head.

"Ah… I see now," she suggested, then laughed maniacally. "You got yourself a visit from the school's resident drag queen, huh? So, what was it about? What did he say? Wait a minute… Are you two fucking and you never told me?!" she screeched.

As fate would have it, my mother chose that exact moment to walk through into the living room. She gave Yuffie and I a look that said, 'Girl, what in the name of Holy Fuck are you talking about?' I looked away quickly, but my obnoxious friend jumped to her feet, front-flipped over my couch, then grabbed my mother into a life-threatening hug, squealing, "Ms. Crescent!"

"O-Oh! Yuffie! Hello, dear," my mom replied chokingly. She then pat the girl a little on the back to let her know that she couldn't breathe. Yuffie immediately released her, but noticed the grocery bags in her hands and bolted outside. My mother, still a bit dazed, turned back to me. "What is she talking about? Are you seeing someone?" Her voice blocked all emotion except for pure curiosity, but the flash of concern in her eyes gave her away. I sighed heavily, taking several bags from her arms.

"That girl… I love her, but she's freaking crazy," I assured, heading for the kitchen to put away the food. Mom followed and started doing the same, then looked to me again.

"You know, Sephiroth… You're free to do what you want with whomever you want to do it with, but, please, just be cautious. I don't want you getting hurt."

Her words were now filled with worry and sadness, and I knew perfectly well why: my father. The asshole that fucked her, in more ways than one, then up and left, not even bothering to stick around to see me be born. He left her with a baby and two part-time jobs, all at the age of twenty. They had never married, though, so my mother, thankfully, passed her name on to me.

I put down what I was holding and moved to her, pulling her into a gentle hug. "It's alright, Mom. I don't plan on ruining anyone else's life or having mine destroyed either. Besides, I'm not dating anyone. The guy she was talking about just randomly showed up here today and introduced himself." I decided to leave out the part where he had also felt me up, feeling that she probably didn't want to know about it.

"Well…I don't want you to think I'm trying to keep you single or whatever. I just want you to be happy…to be careful," she explained, and I gave her one last squeeze of understanding, then resumed my task of storing grocery items. Soon enough, Yuffie trudged in, holding the rest of the bags, and helped us to get everything situated. She'd been here (and eaten our food) enough to know where everything was supposed to go.

A few more minutes of crinkling paper bags and cabinet doors opening and closing, and we were finished. Mom, Yuffie, and I all decided to watch TV together, which we did until Yuf went home at about ten thirty and I went to my room to get ready for bed. Once I was prepared for sleep, though, it didn't come to me. Well…not until I let my mind drift to a certain, well-bodied boy. I was finally able to be pulled in to my dreams after remembering one thing:

_Those eyes…_

* * *

"Hey, Kuja?" My sister tested. I nodded acknowledgingly. "I heard there's a new student at the academy this year. Rosa told me that, apparently, he put a professor of his from Fynn into a coma," she informed. A small grin formed on my lips as I sat with my spine a little straighter.

"Dramatic. He sounds…interesting. Perhaps we should pay a welcoming visit to our new classmate, hmm?" I supplied, hoping she would accept my ploy.

"Well, if you're truly intrigued, I suppose there's only a slight chance it could hurt to try," she jested, with a soft giggle. Humor wasn't something Terra often attempted, but it made me feel so proud when she did. Not for me, of course, but for her. Those awkward, adorable scenes in which her shell would open just enough for her to peek out, make a witty remark, then scramble madly back into herself.

I stood, moving up onto my toes, then down, slowly to my heel. Those few extra half-seconds of balancing always seemed to make a difference in my stride, so I consistently took advantage of them.

"Allow me several minutes to prepare myself?" I questioned. Terra, with her loose, honeydew-green ponytail and My Little Pony pajama suit, stood and glared playfully at me.

"Oh, so its all about you looking presentable, huh? It doesn't matter that I look like an oversized kindergartener, just so long as you can make the blind drool?" she quipped teasingly. I patted her lightly on the crown of her head, trilling with laughter.

"You know me so well!" I fauxly cried, unreal tears in my eyes. I was always quite an actor, if I do say so myself, and most everyone in my family would agree. With a quick, meaningful embrace, I half-whispered into her ear, "I love you so much, Sister." She merely grumbled, "I know," and I trotted through the living room, down the mahogany-wainscotted hall, and through the door to my bedroom.

This room, with its deep violet carpeting, silver-lavender walls, and waist-high, off-white, wooden paneling, was beautiful as just a skeleton. However, if you furnished it with a wardrobe, dresser, desk, nightstand, and bedframe, all of the same material as the wall trim, and an absolutely gorgeous, crystal chandelier, it truly shone as a masterpiece of interior design. Having constructed this room from my own stylings, I would always experience a slight jolt of pride upon entering it.

I sprang to my wardrobe, my excitement breaching through me, and drew from it a pair of very low-waisted and incredibly snug denim jeans, which eased out loosely around the ankle, and an equally tight, forest green shirt, which sported quarter sleeves and a V-neck collar, and ended at the hemline slightly above the navel. My glee forced itself from my throat as a light squeal, and I turned from the wardrobe. With a delicate flip of my hand, and a short mutter of, "Aero," a gust of wind shot through the air and sealed my clothing away once more.

No later than I had donned my pants – my ever-so-annoying tail drawn down the inseam of my left leg – my younger brother, a cheeky, all-smiles kind of child, let himself into my room, his chest-length, blonde hair a ragged mess. He seemed to have just risen from sleep, even though it was closing in on eight-thirty at night.

"Well, good evening, Zidane," I played, hoping to receive some form of irritated response, which he so graciously offered by flashing his skyward middle finger at me. I laughed mirthfully, then rose to slip on the second half of my outfit, being very careful not to damage the plumed feathers at my hairline. Once that was done, I slipped on a simple, brown belt and similarly brown boots, which I laced, then tucked beneath the flare of navy cloth around my feet.

"You going out somewhere, Kuja?" Zidane inquired, yawning the entire time. I smiled, then reiterated to him Terra's rumor of a new student at the academy, to which he nodded, yawned more, then retreated to his boy-cave to sleep the rest of the night away. I turned to my mirror and gave myself a quick thrice-over, then exited the house to find my sister already in the driver's seat of her electric purple car, which she christened Ultros when she received it from our parents on her sixteenth birthday.

Terra, who was a bit of a 'goody two-shoes', drove away from our house at five miles below the limit. I snickered slightly before turning up the radio, only to turn to my sister, who had done the same to me, and we stared at each other with wide eyes, before belting out the chorus to our favorite song.

_"I'm beautiful in my way, 'cause God makes no mistakes!_

_I'm on the right track, baby! I was Born this Way!"_

The rest of the drive to this mystery house, which Rosa had texted my sister the directions to, was the same as any other: Terra and I crowing out the lyrics to every song we heard, the electronically collapsible roof of the car folded back, and the vehicle rocking with our purposefully-horrid dancing.

We arrived before a quaint, one-story ranch house just as the final chorus of "Teenage Dream" came to a close, and I lowered the music volume from thirty to five. I took in the home, its gray siding, sky blue shutters, and plain, white front door. Stepping from the car, I felt a hand grab my wrist, and turned to my sister. She beckoned for me to lower my head, and, as I did, she pounced, brush in one hand, comb in the other, as she repaired my wind-tarnished hair. Terra was the only person I ever let touch my hair, not because I was vain about it (even though I, truthfully, was), but because she understood how insecure about it I was. She was familiar with the shape, volume, thickness, and curvature of every fiber of it, and was wonderfully gentle as she styled it, especially around the over-sensitive feathers, which swept upward and back over the center of my cranium.

"You know," she began before I could even start to feel self-conscious about the anomalies at my forehead. I looked back at her face, which was transfixed on them. "No matter what you may say or think about these, or your tail, for that matter," she chided, running her fingers along the downy strands, "I'll always see how beautiful they are; how beautiful you are, Kuja." She focused her gaze onto mine. "You're naturally unique, and in the most amazing ways. I want you to understand that someday, okay?"

I nodded softly, tears threatening my eyes with emotion, and wrapped my arms around her neck, whimpering once in thankfulness. "I love you, Terra," I breathed, before standing tall again and inhaling deeply. I released the large amount of air slowly, wiped at my eyes, and turned to strut up the walkway towards the house.

_I wonder what he'll look like,_ I queried in my mind as I knocked on the firm wooden slab. A few seconds of audible shuffling passed, then a click, and I was met with the most stunning, jade eyes I had ever seen. For a few moments, a part of my soul was lost in them, and, upon recovering it, I felt the warmth of embarrassment rising to my cheeks. My shame was short-lived, though, for I observed the slack-jawed stupor on the face of the silverette before me. To snap him from his reverie, I eased his mandible shut, muttering something about the "You'll catch flies" line.

For some hideously idiotic reason, I took it upon myself to examine his biceps with a gentle grip on them, then his pectorals, and even to crouch down to inspect his legs, from the mid-thighs, where I noticed that his shining mane ended at last, to the ankles. While straightening up once more, I noticed my surprisingly calm demeanor, and seized the moment of clarity to eye him down once more before muttering, "I see," and swaying away, flipping my hair behind me.

During my return to the car, my sister gave me a strange look, then flicked her head in the direction of the person behind me. I spun around slowly, taking in the very hungry stare in his chartreuse irises. In an effort to prevent him from drooling on himself, I offered my name, at which point I was acknowledged with a very dazed, "Huh?" With a silent giggle, I repeated myself.

"Kuja. My name is Kuja. Kuja Branford. And you are?"

He looked to me confusedly for several seconds, then brought his hand none too lightly across his countenance. It noticeably stirred him, for he managed to sputter out his identity.

"Sephiroth Crescent."

"Well it was nice to meet you, Sephiroth. I'll see you Monday," I concluded before resuming my trek to the neon violet sportscar behind me. I settled into the smooth leather, noticing the timid wave from my left. The engine purred quietly, and we were off.

"Oh my God! What in the name of Hell were you doing?!" Terra shouted between her strangled guffaws. I simply blushed a subtle shade of pink. "Like, seriously! You just totally rubbed down some random guy whose name you didn't even know! I mean, sure he's hot, but I thought you were gonna rip his clothes off or something!" She hacked a bit, straining for air.

My face flared a deep red this time, and I shielded her from view with my bangs. "So?" I pouted childishly. "And if I would've?" I retorted without thinking. Instantly, there was silence, then another sudden shriek of cackling.

By the time we arrived home, my guilt and discomfort were enough to entice me to sprint into the house, through the foyer, down the hall, and onto my bed. I buried myself into the sheets, a deep purple identical to the carpet below, and drew the black-and-silver-checked comforter over my head. I heard someone enter, but they quickly departed, chased of by my defensive growling.

_This was such an awful idea._

I attempted, futilely, to sleep as to avoid the humiliation that flooded my mind. For nearly two hours, I turned, twisted, and tumbled around my mattress, trying to think of something, anything to let me rest. The object my brain finally paused on was a particular silver-haired male. I, miraculously, fell into slumber as I recalled one thing:

_Those eyes…_


	2. Let the Battles Begin!

_Author's Note: I wanted this chapter to focus mostly on Sephiroth's experience of the Debut, with a bit more understanding of Kuja's internal conflicts. Enjoy!_

_Also, big thanks to Cecily Rose Midnight for all of the help with spot-checking and motivation!_

* * *

Alarm clocks are perhaps my greatest ally, as well as my worst enemy. Being woken up at seven in the morning by a sound not even Satan would stoop so low as to torture souls with? That definitely wasn't helping their case.

I, quite literally, rolled out of bed, dragging most of my blankets and pillows with me. My hair, all four feet of it, twisted around my skull like spaghetti on a fork, blinding me on my way to the bathroom for a shower. Halfway across my bedroom, my sight returned and my hair fell towards the floor, as did my sheets. I'd, most likely, take care of them later.

I shuffled through the door opposite mine in the hall, and disposed of my clothing, which, honestly, was just a pair of boxers. I turned the shower handles slowly, the cold slower than the hot, and waited for the water to heat up nicely. Once I was satisfied, I stepped into the tub and stood under the spray, letting it splash on my face in order to get rid of some of my grogginess. After I was reliably conscious, I grabbed the bottle of shampoo and went to work on the mop of gray that fell from my scalp. About five minutes later, that was finished, so I moved on to conditioner. Another five minutes, and I was ready for soap, which took all of thirty seconds.

I sighed, then turned off the shower. I was going to miss its warmth once I opened the curtain. I did that next, and, within seconds, my body was covered in goosebumps. I quickly surrounded myself in a towel, then stepped in front of the mirror, plugging in the hair dryer. Ten minutes of hot air and a brush, and I was ready for clothes.

When I opened my closet, I realized I had no idea how I should dress that day. I texted Yuffie in a slight panic, only having a half-hour left to get to school, which started at eight. She responded almost instantly, saying that it was casual attire, but I would probably want to wear something I could move around in easily. Taking her advice, I picked out a pair of white jeans and a tight, short-sleeved, black shirt. Even though it was the middle of August, I refused to wear shorts. In fact, the only shorts I owned were a pair of swimming trunks.

I quickly dressed, pulled on a pair of black boots, then headed for the kitchen. As soon as I opened my door, the smell of pancakes hit me. I felt my mouth water in anticipation, so I figured I wouldn't be so cruel as to deny my taste buds of what they wanted.

As I entered the small cooking space, which opened directly to the living room, I saw my mother at the stove wearing an apron. She must've heard my footsteps, for she turned to me with a smile. "Didn't want you to be hungry on your first day," she said, scooping up three more golden-brown circles of deliciousness and stacking them on a plate. She then dowsed them in syrup and whipped cream, and set the plate before my usual chair. I swooped in on the food, inhaling it at the speed of light. With a few delighted moans, which sounded exactly like sex, I was finished, and stood to wash the plate and utensils.

"God, those were good," I breathed, and my mother smiled happily. She snatched the plate from my hands and scrubbed it down, then spun around to give me a kiss on the cheek. "What was that all about?" I asked, not expecting her to act like that. "I could've taken care of the dishes, Mom."

"Nonsense," she replied, still smiling. "You just get yourself off to school now. I can't wait to hear how it goes!"

I hugged her firmly, then grabbed my empty notebook and a pencil and left the house. It took only a few minutes to walk there, so I showed up at seven forty-five, fifteen minutes early. I was surprised to see that I wasn't the only one, though, or even close to it. There were already hundreds of students waiting in the courtyard, catching up with friends, running through the lawn, or sleeping. That last one sounded like a fantastic idea, but I knew that if I fell asleep again now, I wouldn't wake up for hours. I just had to grin and bear it, even if I wasn't really that tired anyway.

I found a nice, shaded spot on a low wall, so I situated myself on it and pulled out my phone.

_"Hey, where are you?" I typed, but r_ather than receive an answering message, I got an answering shout.

"Right here!" Yuffie called out, waving her arms in the air so that I would be able to see her. Not that it did her much of anything, but, fortunately, she was only a few feet away. She pushed through the last few people that stood between us, receiving several angry grumbles and stares, and seated herself next to me. "Lookin' good!" she complimented, judging my outfit.

"Thanks. I figured it would work for today," I told her, still a little uncertain if it was acceptable. Well, I guess I was actually more nervous about the upcoming day in general, and not only my appearance, and even more so when I spotted a familiar, feathered teen in an incredibly attractive outfit making his way towards the stairs just to my left.

_Please don't see me! Please don't see me! _I pleaded to myself. I'm not entirely sure what made me want to avoid him. All I know is that my heart skipped a beat or two, my lungs had some difficulty filling with air, and a small heat was building in my jeans.

"Hey! Kuja!"

_Fuck you, Yuffie…_

He turned reflexively towards the commotion, his eyes focused on a book in his hands, but froze mid-step, one leg in the air, dropping whatever he was reading, when he noticed me. There was a brief moment in which everything else seemed to be entirely frozen as Kuja and I locked onto each other, broken only by his lack of balance.

"Kuja!" I yelled, jumping to catch him. I dove, rotating in the middle of the air, and hit the stone ground on my back just in time to catch the other male's torso with my own. I instinctively wrapped my arms around him, holding him firmly to me, and I'm certain that he could feel the pounding in my chest.

Once the adrenaline faded from both of us, I heard him let out a small squeak, so I raised my head to look at him. He was gawking at me, his crystal eyes wide and his cheeks burning a dark red. The people around us were gaping at the scene, and Kuja, regarding their stares, squirmed anxiously in my hold. I released him, and, the moment my grip was weak enough, he was above me, hovering several feet off of the ground. A thin, violet aura surrounded his body like like loose fog, and his hair fanned out beautifully behind him. Without realizing, I reached my hand up to run my fingers through it, but my skin was met with nothing but air as Kuja quickly grabbed his book, righted himself to his feet, and hurried away.

"Kuja," I called, sitting up. I felt someone's hands brushing at my back, and I turned to see Yuffie swatting away the dirt on my clothes. I stood, and she cleaned the rest of me. I, though, was paying more attention to the boy at the entrance to the school building, waiting impatiently for the doors to open, his face hidden deeply beneath a wall of lavender.

At exactly eight, a bell rang from somewhere above me, signaling the beginning of the school day. I looked for the source and saw a large, gold bell hanging in an open spire at the center of the roof. I then returned my sight to Kuja, who was already disappearing into the academy.

* * *

"Hey! Kuja!" a familiar voice yelled. Recognizing that it was my classmate, Yuffie Kisaragi, I started to move for her, raising my gaze from the binder in my hands, only to fall upon a set of gorgeous, mossy emeralds framed in a mane of silver.

My grip slackened, and I vaguely comprehended a loud thud on the path before me. At the same time, my breath hitched in a loud gasp and my heart throbbed sporadically, my palms grew cold, and the muscles in my abdomen clenched tightly. My entire being was petrified.

It was because of my sudden paralysis that my left foot remained several inches above the earth, and it was because of gravity that I began to sail towards it.

_Magic! _I screamed in my mind, squeezing my eyes shut. _Magic!_ Unfortunately, though, I hadn't recovered enough from my shock at seeing Sephiroth to do anything to save myself. I braced for impact, but whatever I collided with definitely wasn't cobblestone. It was sturdy, but not entirely solid, and very warm.

Curious, I opened my eyes to inspect whatever I had landed on, only to see a plane of smooth, black fabric leading to a rougher, white one with a faint mound in it at the point where it divided in two. Once I noticed the pieces of black leather at the ends, I understood that that they were boots, the white material was a pair of jeans, and the black was a shirt.

_Hold on… If the white is the jeans, then…'that' must be…_

I yelped in surprise and shuffled around, attempting to stand, only finding myself to be barred down by the toned arms of whoever this person was. I observed the thin, pale locks on before me, and craned my neck to the side, watching as those unnaturally verdant eyes lifted themselves to view me. I hadn't noticed until that point, but my skin was on fire, and I writhed a little more, trying to escape my embarrassment as a crowd formed around our scene. I felt the snare on my back weaken, and immediately heaved myself from the shamefully appealing man, suspending myself above him with a simple Float spell.

He remained perfectly still for several more seconds before his fingers extended towards me. Out of panic, I hastily retrieved my workbook and returned myself to a standing position, resting on the ground. Once sure of my footing, I brushed through the students in my way and brought myself to the sizeable slabs of oak that bared my way to sanctuary. I veiled myself in my hair, waiting. I would feel safer once I was lost in the inevitable swarm of bodies in the halls.

The bell tolled, resonating through the courtyard, and I tore the doors before me open, sauntering down the revealed corridor. I made directly for my newly assigned locker to dispose of my things, but wasn't able to flee before being intercepted by a small party of my acquaintances. I was bombarded by their intrigue before they had even fully advanced to me.

"Dude, what was all of that about?" Tidus, a freshman, pestered, followed by his older sister, Faris. "Yeah! That tension was as thick as mythril, Kuja!" Refia, a sophomore, continued the interrogation with, "What's with not telling us about this new man of yours, Kuj?" Just to add to the ensuing drama, a senior, Dona, approached, banishing several younger students from her path. Dona was the real problem of the throng of annoyances before me. She was very self-preservant and harsh, as well as a notorious tormentor of underclassmen. Juniors, apparently, were no exception.

She stood herself before me, with her arms crossed, and a smug grin beneath her obviously unoriginal nose. I hung my head in despair.

"So, you've actually dared to date again? After your fiasco with Balthier last year, I would've thought that you'd be too afraid to keep trying to sell that body of yours."

"Hey! Shut that cum receptacle of yours that you call a mouth, Dona!" Faris, who was also a senior, burst. Honestly, I'd never expect her to come to my defense, but, then again, she had also never given me cause to believe she wouldn't. "Only reason any of that ever happened is 'cause you fucked your way in between them and broke them up!"

"I did no such thing! Balthier came to me first!" Dona defended.

"Yeah, after you got him drunk!"

"I can't be held responsible for what people do while intoxicated!"

"But you can still be held responsible for getting him so screwed up in the first place!"

"Like it matters. It's not my fault or problem that Balthier wasn't being fulfilled in his relationship. I was merely helping the poor, deprived guy out! I did him a service!"

"From what I witnessed, you did him plenty of services," a new voice piped, laced with resentment. I looked up once more to see my ever-loyal sibling weaving her way through the cluster of students. Dona's attention was stolen from Faris by her arrival, as was Faris', in fact.

"Ha! From what you've witnessed? You're obviously a biased source, considering that Kuja is your brother. How can we trust that what you say is true? For all I know, Kuja could have been just as guilty, if not more! For all I know, he could be a prostitute! He surely dresses enough like one!"

I looked down at my outfit: a pair of low-riding, dark violet jeans, a tight, gold T-shirt that exposed my waist, and a long, white trench coat.

_Do I really look like a slut?_ I asked myself, before returning my focus to Dona.

The already heavy atmosphere became suffocating when a loud crack vibrated through the air. I was shocked as I watched my sister whip her palm across the cheek of the torturess before me, and even more shocked to witness the fast-darkening, scarlet bruise left in its wake.

"That's how."

Nobody so much as breathed for the next few seconds, until Dona huffed and stomped away, her hand cupping the area beneath her left eye. Once she vanished, Terra received a raucous of applause and cheering from the audience that still remained before my locker, and a smile a pat on the shoulder from Faris, who chuckled and said, "You done well, kid. You done well."

Terra, now blushing from all of the attention, faced me and pulled me into a warm embrace. A single tear of mine escaped from its prison, and she swiftly brushed it away. "Don't let that bitch get to you, Kuja. You're too good for crying."

I did my best to smile as she grabbed my hand and we started down the hall to the gymnasium. About halfway there, Terra acknowledged my remaining doubt, and asked, in a very exaggerated tone, "Y'know whatcha gotta do when life gets you down?"

I giggled amusedly and feigned thought, then answered, "Just keep swimming?"

She shook her head, then explained, "In our case, dear brother of mine, the correct term is 'Strutting!' Just keep strutting!"

I burst with laughter as we both began to do just that, strutting our way down the hall to the Debut.

* * *

Yuffie took it upon herself to shoo away the gathered mass in front of our lockers. She and I had made sure to be placed right next to each other, along with a few of her other friends that I was going to be introduced to today.

As we moved through the clearing gang, I noticed that the lockers here were a bit different from how they were in Fynn. Instead of a row of stacked, metal boxes, they were tall, individual doors built into the stone wall of the building itself. Once I opened mine, I found that they were about two square feet wide and deep, and about six feet tall. I was glad that they were larger, but not too strange from what I was used to.

We placed our things inside, then waited for Yuffie's circle of friends to arrive. The first of them, a decently short girl with red pigtails, chatted excitedly with Yuffie before turning to me and introducing herself as 'Vanille' and offering me her hand. I shook it gently, replying, "Sephiroth."

"You've got yourself quit a bit o' hair, eh, Sephiroth?" she joked. She had a strange accent, but I couldn't place what kind.

The second and third of the group were obviously a couple, and Yuffie named them both for me. "This is Vaan," she said, gesturing to the male, a white-blonde, "and this is Quistis," she finished, now pointing at a long-haired blonde with glasses. Vaan, though seeming a little reluctant, took my offered hand, as did Quistis, but with less hesitation.

"Ah! Vivi!" Yuffie shouted suddenly. I turned in the direction she had called to see a small, colorfully dressed boy making his way towards us. He wore a large, pointed hat that shadowed his entire face, but his eyes still glowed a bright yellow from the darkness. "This is Sephiroth," she told him, pointing to me. He held out a gloved hand and gave me a quick, "Hello!"

"Well, that's everyone!" Yuffie cheered, and, once all lockers and notebooks were taken care of, we headed to the gym for Debut.

"So, how exactly does the Debut work out?" I asked to our group in general.

"Well," Quistis started, "Once we enter the gymnasium, we shall be divided between melee-oriented and magic-oriented branches. I, being a spell caster, don't know the initial workings of the melee side, but the mages ready their preferred spells, then we are all asked to display our knowledge and skill in one-on-one duels with randomly selected opponents, be them mage or fighter. If the professors like you enough, they might even ask you to participate in multiple fights. After we have proven ourselves and been evaluated, an instructor that specializes in our talents will select us as one of their students for the year."

"It's really not that much different for us fighters," Vaan explained once his girlfriend was finished. "We, however, prepare our weapons instead of magics. There are swords, knives, axes, spears, bows, guns, and special weapons." I asked him what he meant by 'special weapons.' "Stuff like bombs, scythes, shuriken, etcetera. Yuffie over here is a shuriken expert," he revealed, chuckling.

"Pssht! I'm no expert! Just a god," she declared, and I laughed out at her false modesty.

"Anyway," Vaan continued as we neared the doors to the gym, "I'm both a sword-fighter and archer, so I alternate my studies between both of them. You don't look like much of an archer to me, though, so I'm assuming you use either swords or spears, what with how tall and slim you are."

"Umm…well… I don't really know…"

"What?" Vanille burst. "If you don't even know how to use a weapon, how did you end up at Alexandria?"

"Well, I've got a long track record of assault, and this was the only school that would freely accept me," i admitted guiltily. "I don't have much of an idea as to how any of this works. Umm…it may sound stupid, but how do I know if I can use magic?"

There was a light, echoing giggle, and I looked down to my left to see Vivi covering what I assumed to be the shaded area that was his mouth. He then turned to look up at me and his eyes startled me with how bright they were. "If you don't know if you can use magic, then you definitely can't. Not now, at least."

I nodded, slightly embarrassed by my lack of knowledge, then turned to Vaan again. "So, swords or spears? Am I supposed to just try them both out and see what works best?"

"That's exactly what you do," he responded, smiling. Quistis snickered a bit, and I gave her a questioning look.

"Haha! I'm sorry! It's just that we don't have a lot of 'fresh meat' here. Most students already know their way around an armory. However, the last time we did have someone as inexperienced as you claim to be, several sophomores were almost hospitalized by his haphazard casting of Fire!" she crowed at the memory. I attempted a smile, but my nervousness was obvious.

_What if I injure someone? What if I kill someone?!_

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Yuffie smiling up at me. "Don't you worry, Sephy! Vaan'll find the perfect weapon for you!" As she started to talk excitedly at Vaan about different types of swords, we entered the gym, and I let out a gasp at the sight.

Each wall was lined with stone bleachers, surrounding the middle of the circular room. A few feet from the bottom row of seats was a four-foot high metal fence. There were six gates evenly spaced along the ring, which allowed you to enter the huge, sunken floor inside. Looking around, the only thing I felt I could accurately describe the gym as was a coliseum.

"Earth to Seph!" someone called, and I noticed Vanille waving her hand around by my face. I looked at her and shook my head a bit, refocusing on the people around me. "Hey! Yuffie and Vaan are waitin' for ya!" She pointed to the blonde and brunette standing near a large mass of muscly teens. I thanked Vanille, then made my way to the others.

"Impressive, huh?" Yuffie said, understanding my awe at the room. I nodded with a chuckle, and the three of us moved into the crowd, Yuf shoving her way through, Vaan apologizing for her, and me trying to ignore the looks and stares.

After about a minute of struggling, we made it to a table that was being swarmed by half of the student body. At it, two teachers were hurriedly taking and writing down names. We approached the one on the right, a small, blonde-haired woman with large, green eyes. She looked up to us and grinned widely, then spoke, "Yuffie! Vann! How are you little punks?"

"Same old same old! How about you, Rikku?" Yuffie chimed. I found it strange that she was on a first name basis with the woman, but didn't say anything.

"Ugh! Swamped as Hell, as usual! So many little bastards here to take roll of!" she joked, then looked up to me. "Well, hello up there! What's your name?"

I smilled and answered her, she scribbled something down on the paper before her, then we were told to head for the equipment manager. With short goodbyes, Yuffie and Vaan led me to another table. This one, though, was placed in front of shelves upon shelves of different weapons. The instructor, a tall brunette with a scar on the bridge of his nose, nodded silently to Yuffie when she asked about helping me.

"Newbie, huh?" he shrugged, then waved me over to him. "I'm Professor Leonhart. So, Vaan suggests either a lance or a sword. I'm not sure how well the lances will work out for you, given your posture, but we can always try. Take a look at some of the blades over there and choose a few that you like."

I agreed, and moved over to a display of different types of swords as the teacher sorted through his spears. Vaan followed me to explain the different pieces of metal in front of me.

"Longsword," he said, holding up a long, straight blade. He then brought out a shorter, thin one with a covered handle. "Rapier." I took the first in my left hand, but underestimated its weight, and it crashed to the floor. I heard a groan behind me, obviously from the instructor. Vaan laughed quietly, before taking the longsword from me and putting it back on its shelf.

"Okay, so no standard swords for you. Try the rapier."

I did as he told, and found the second choice to be much lighter. I swung it a few times, but stopped as Vaan started to laugh again. He took it from my hand and held it in his own. He then moved into a fighting stance, one leg behind the other, and his left hand out behind him. He thrust the sword straight ahead of him, demonstrating its use.

"This is a piercing weapon. You stab, not swing," he informed, then returned to rapier to its place. After a few more moments of searching, he shouted in victory. He turned back to me, holding up a tall, thin blade that started to curve upward slightly about halfway along its length. "Katana," he named it, then handed it to me. I took it, and immediately felt the balance in my arm. The hilt was long, making it easy to hold onto, and the metal itself was unexpectedly light, and the bend in it made the weight shift upward. Overall, there must have been at least five feet of steel.

_This feels…perfect._

"I knew you 'preferred the swords', but you really seem to have taken a liking to that one," Yuffie's voice broke through my thoughts. I turned to her, wanting to complain about her little joke, and my eyes widened at the huge, four-pointed thing she was carrying. She snickered at my reaction, then held the object out for me to see. "This is a shuriken! They're good for stabbing, throwing, slicing, and extreme Frisbee.

I laughed at that last idea, knowing that that was something Yuffie would actually do, then returned my awareness to my katana. "It feels…right. Like, there isn't any awkwardness in holding it. It's almost as if I was supposed to chose it," I told them, then noticed Vaan holding a tall, metal spear. "You still wanna try a lance?" he asked, and I shook my head. I had settled on this strange-looking sword, and I didn't want to let it go.

We returned to Leonhart, who took back the spear and asked us to head for the bleachers. As we did, I finally noticed that Vaan had already gathered his equipment: a thick, medium-length sword and a large, tight bow. He was also wearing a quiver of arrows on his back and a pair of leather gloves.

After another half-hour of watching people prepare themselves, a loud voice rang through the gym. I recognized it, and started to look for Principal Jenova, who I found standing on a balcony at the back of the room, overlooking the pit below. She was dressed in a black, pinstripe suit, and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, fully revealing her bright, red eyes. In front of her was a microphone.

"Welcome back, my children, to another year at Alexandria Academy! Today is the day that we prove ourselves worthy of our skills, as well as form a basis upon which to improve, so hold nothing back! Let yourselves shine just like the stars you are, and show us what you've got! Let the Debut begin!"

With her final words, Principal Jenova threw her hands in the air and the entire student body roared in applause and cheering. As the sound died down, she started to call off names of pairs who would battle each other. I was surprised to hear Vaan's name so soon, but he wasn't shocked at all. He even left his sword behind, saying that he wouldn't need it against his opponent.

In the Debut, they call down a total of eighteen random people at a time, nine mages and nine fighters, to the center of the room, which is divided, tic-tac-toe-style, into nine sections. Each pair is assigned to a different area, and all are given a total of three minutes to duel.

Apparently, the objective of these fights is to land three strikes on your enemy before they do to you. Fortunately, the instructors would cast Protect on you before the battle so that nothing could actually pierce your skin, and Shell as to prevent any serious magic damage. Vaan's partner had to have been grateful for that fact, because the moment the bell sounded for the fights to start, Vaan had already drawn and fired off three arrows at once, right into the other teen's chest. They bounced of, but the impact itself would cause bruising anyways.

There was another minute or two of fighting before all of the other pairs were finished as well, and Vaan returned to his seat next to us. "Told ya," he said, smirking proudly. Yuffie and I congratulated him, then we all sat back to watch the next two hours worth of sparring.

A few of the students caught my eye, including the girl I had seen Kuja drive off with over the weekend. I was a little stunned to see her walk into the pit with a sword, a katana like mine, and use it to bat a fireball at her opponent. She then charged at him, slamming an ice-covered fist into his chest, then bringing her sword down onto his arm. I hadn't even expected her to attend this school, let alone be able to fight so well with both spells and a weapon.

I also watched as Quistis entered her battle, a long whip in hand. I snickered at a comment by Yuffie about Vaan being a whipped boyfriend, but my humor was cut off when the whip cracked hard against the side of a young mal's head, then wrapped around his leg, pulling it out from under him and slamming him to the ground. The boy was apparently a knife-thrower, because he tossed one at Quistis' face from his spot on the floor. The dagger struck her glasses, sending them sailing off of her nose and shattering on the floor.

"Oh shit, that kid is so screwed," Vaan said, laughing to himself. I questioned what he meant for a second, then was answered by an enraged Quistis whipping her head to face the boy. A bright yellow-green light shot from her eyes, of all places, and exploded against her enemy. With that, Quistis was undoubtedly the winner.

Another hour or so passed, before another mage caught my sight. I watched as a few familiar, silver-violet feathers, sprouting out from a set of same-colored bangs, made their way to the area of the battlefield closest to us. On my left, Yuffie nudged me gently and I groaned in discomfort.

Kuja gracefully arrived to face his opponent, smiling cheerily. He always seemed be made of pure confidence…well, at least he did whenever he wasn't falling on my stomach in the middle of a crowd. This moment wasn't any exception. As he swayed gently, arms flowing out at his sides, waiting for the signal to begin, he was the very definition of self-assuredness. I was on the edge of my seat, wanting so badly to see him victorious.

One second, the bell rang. The next, Kuja's enemy was laying on the stone floor, unconscious. I had no idea what had happened, or how, but I didn't care. I was overjoyed to see him come out on top.

_On top? No…I want him beneath me…_

Dammit! Those thoughts again! Why were they torturing me so badly! I could feel the heat rising in more than just my face, and I took a deep breath, calming myself down, before hearing my name called out from one of the loudspeakers, as well as another one that I recognized.

"Sephiroth Crescent and Yuffie Kisaragi!" Principal Jenova's voice announced. I looked at Yuffie with shock, but she was grinning madly.

"Awesome! Sephy, you and I get to battle each other!" she squealed, then grabbed my wrist and pulled me along the row of seats, then down the stairs to the middle section of the stadium. An instructor came over to us and put up both of the protective barriers around me, then did the same to Yuffie, who patted my shoulders, turning to move to her side of the square. "Alright, pretty boy! Don't hold back on me!"

I tried to grin, but I was still too distracted by the fact I was going to have to duel my best friend. I was drawn out of my distraction by a kick to the side of my head. I was dazed for a bit, but when I came to, I saw Yuffie hopping from one foot to the next, pumping herself up.

"What was that, Seph?! You didn't even try to block me!" she yelled. I just shrugged at her in reply, but she sighed loudly. "Just 'cause I'm your friend doesn't mean you should just let yourself get the shit beat outta you! Think of it as training! I'm teaching you how to be a better fighter! Don't pussy out on me!"

I laughed at her taunting, feeling a weight fall off of my shoulders. I stood tall again and held out the sword in my hand, glad I had been holding on to it the entire time. Had I not been, Yuf would've dragged me off without it.

It truly did feel like it was meant to be here, in my fingers. The extra weight felt as if it was an extension of my arm, letting me reach further than before. I gave it another testing swing, then lunged for the girl before me.

She was taken off guard, that's for sure, but she was able to jump to the side before I made it to her. She brought her shuriken around from behind her back, aiming it at me, but I deflected it with a quick swipe of steel.

"That's more like it!"

I chuckled, then brought my blade back down on her once again. This time, she wasn't able to move her arm, weighed down by her weapon, away from my path in time. She yelped a little in pain, but assured me that it was nothing. I nodded and backed away from her, allowing her to regain her form.

I barely had time to think as she dove, shuriken pointed out, trying to stab at me. I spun from its path, bringing the metal of my katana down on her back as I completed the turn. She dropped to the floor, and I extended my arm to help her up, only to receive a punch to the stomach.

"Why would you help an enemy up?!" she shouted.

"But that's just it! You're not my enemy!" I responded.

"I can make myself your enemy," she said, a wicked smile on her lips. I raised an eyebrow at her as she stood, making her way back to her side of our field. She answered me by looking into the crowd and calling in a very sing-song tone, "Oh, Kuja!"

"Yuffie!" My eyes grew incredibly wide as a stared at her.

She just smiled wider as the person she was beckoning glanced between the two of us. "I've got something to tell you!"

"Yuffie!" I shouted again, but louder this time. She continued to ignore me as Kuja's face became concerned.

"It's about Sephiroth!" she yelled, and the teen's cheeks darkened.

"Yuffie!" I now roared, trying to stop her.

The girl just laughed some more, and kept on with her aggravating. "Whenever he sees you, he-" she began, but was silenced as I angrily sliced my sword through the air, crashing it to the stone below us.

It took me a few seconds to notice that most of the room was silent, and that Yuffie wasn't in front of me anymore. Instead, there was a gash in the floor before me that must've been about fifteen feet long. Beyond that, across the zone next to ours, she was sitting up against the wall, a huge grin on her face. She stood, with some difficulty, before limp-running her way over to me.

"That was friggin' awesome, Seph!" she congratulated. "I never knew you could do that!"

"Umm…what did I do exactly?" I asked, growing anxious from all of the sudden attention from virtually everyone in the school.

"That energy wave! That was amazing! You threw me over half of the pit!"

"I what?!" I shouted, immediately worried. I attempted to make sure Yuffie was alright, but she swatted me away.

"It was the coolest thing ever! Can't you still feel the power inside you?!" she yapped excitedly. Now that I thought about it, I could definitely feel something, like a humming in my chest. My left arm was buzzing madly as well.

"I feel like I'm being electrocuted," I explained to her, and she nodded.

"See?!"

From somewhere behind me, I heard applause. Turning to find the source, I found Principal Jenova standing a few feet from me. She was clapping, a smile on her face. Soon, there was more applause, and I could see Quistis, Vivi, and Vanille to my left, and Vaan to my right, standing in their places in the audience. Within seconds, the entire gym was filled with cheering, and I attempted to hide myself in a sheet of silver, only looking up when I noticed Kuja approach Jenova and whisper something in her ear, to which she nodded. A microphone was lowered to her from above, hanging by its wire, and she quieted the room.

"Wasn't that quite a spectacle?" she asked the student body, receiving a loud chorus of agreement. "Well, I know I would certainly like to see that again! So, why don't we give our dear Sephiroth an opportunity to do just that?" My gaze shot up to hers, and she raised her hand to announce the next duelists.

"Sephiroth Crescent and Kuja Branford!"


	3. One Winged Angel

_Author's Note: This chapter will begin with Kuja and Sephiroth's Debut battle, then slow down to some magic lessons, a little bit of conversation, and more Yuffie-ness, so have fun reading!_

(P.S. Cecily Rose Midnight, you deserve everything you have, so never listen to anyone who tells you otherwise.)

* * *

_He…he beat Yuffie Kisaragi? With an energy wave?!_

I gazed upon him in awe as he stood before us all, entirely unaware of that power. The screeching wall of flesh behind me was nothing of importance in comparison to this man. How was he so strong and entirely oblivious to the fact?

I soon found myself entering the field and approaching Jenova, who had left her balcony in order to congratulate his victory. I wanted to personally experience what he was capable of. "Miss Jenova?" I began, drawing her attention. I brought myself to her ear, cupping my hand between us as to obstruct anyone from reading my request off of my lips. "Perhaps I might be allowed to spar with Mr. Crescent?"

Jenova, interested by my idea, nodded and gestured for a microphone. I situated myself on the far end of the arena, waiting for her introduction to pass and for this damned fight to begin already, then observed Sephiroth curiously as he removed his overcoat and tossed it to the side. Finally, her rant was over, our names were called, she returned to her original place, and Sephiroth and I were left to anticipate each other's first movements.

The bell was struck, and I took no hesitation to toss two spears, formed of solid ice, at the swordsman before me. As I expected, self-preservation kicked in at the last moment, and he drove them both down with a single flash of steel. His anxiousness was overly apparent, though, and I advanced on him quickly, leaving the ground several feet below me. I stopped several meters away from him and remained still, waiting for him to make some sort of move, which he didn't.

"Attack me!" I demanded, trying to hide my confusion with stoicism. He simply continued to watch me hover before him, so I came in closer and held my arms behind my back. "Strike me! At least attempt to do something!" Once again, there was no reaction, so I landed before him and pressed my hands to his chest, sending a jolt of electricity through my fingertips. He shuddered slightly before stepping away from me, sword still in hand.

"I have no intention of doing so, Kuja," he finally spoke; however, his tone was plain and disbelieving.

"Do something! Be angry! Be vicious! Attack me! Show me how strong you are!" I commanded, lightning bristling on my nails.

"What? I don't even know how I did that to Yuffie earlier! You can't expect me to understand what all of that was when I picked up a sword for the first time in my life just four hours ago!"

For some reason it hadn't dawned on me until just then that he might not actually know what he was doing, but that didn't matter now. Here we were, being observed by the entire academy, talking. There was supposed to be fighting, not a conversation! "That doesn't matter! A duel is a duel! Attack me!"

His brows were furrowed with worry, but he did as he was asked this time, charging forward and slashing at me from below. I attempted to dodge, but was barely slow enough in reaction for his blade to make contact with my shin. I winced from the pain, and Sephiroth instantly shot me a glance of concern. I shook my head, rising up high above the pit. "Blizzara," I whispered, surrounding myself with frozen lances, much like the ones before.

_Please don't get hurt, _I begged him silently, unleashing my conjured weapons onto him. They rained down at alarming speed, and I prayed that he would be capable of blocking or, at the very least, avoiding them, so it was reasonable to believe that I was shocked to see shards of ice spouting in all directions from his point on the floor.

Once the mist cleared to reveal an unscathed Sephiroth, I sighed loudly, thankful for his health. Nonetheless, I needed to see that power again. I needed to witness it for myself! I sailed for him, shouting, "Fira!" and my hands becoming cloaked in flames. My mind was torn between fighting this man and forfeiting, but I couldn't just quit! Once I was about twenty feet from him, I whipped my arms forward, hurling a large mass of fire from each, then quickly drew up, forming another of tripled size between both palms. With a roar of, "Firaga!" I blasted it at him as well.

My fear grew once more as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke and flames, and I unconsciously shouted his name. "Sephiroth!" I called, and approached the plume of ash beneath me, only to be greeted by a blue arc of supercharged energy as it tore a line through the atmosphere. Had I reached forward, my arm would have been severed halfway through the radius.

I was right in anticipating such a thing to be a stunning display, but horribly wrong in assuming that it would fulfill my hunger to observe such power. Rather, I needed to confirm my opponent's livelihood. Once more, I yelled his name, tears of panic building at the corners of my eyes as I settled my feet onto the earth just outside of the smog that he was imprisoned in.

_What the hell have I done?!_

I raised my hands to face the blackness, breathing, "Aeroga," and a fierce wind billowed from behind me, fighting the dust away, eventually revealing him to me. He was kneeling a few yards in front of me with his eyes clenched shut. His cough permeated the silence of the battlefield, so I moved to assist him. Before I could manage more than a single step, his jade eyes snapped open focused on me, then somewhere above me, and back to me. They were different the second time he looked to me, though. Instead of bearing recognition, they were wide with terror.

"Sephir-" I began, but was interrupted as he threw his entire body at mine, taking me in his arms, the resulting force sending us tumbling to the cold floor below. Before I could question or resist, there was a thundering crash accompanied by the startled cries of the audience.

Puzzled, I opened my eyes to the scene about me, and gasped. Shattered glass and scraps of metal, remnants of a fallen ceiling lamp, lay strewn about the floor all around us, but it wasn't the shrapnel that had caused me to lose my breath.

Surrounding me on my left was a tattered wall of night-black feathers, which trailed together from behind the back of the moon-haired swordsman above me. There were various tears and holes dotting the wing, most likely caused from shielding away the flying debris, but, even in such a state, it was absolutely beautiful.

"S-Sephiroth…" I spoke once I was able to do so again, still gaping at the appendage. "Y-you…what…is that?" I turned my stare back to his face, which was ridden with misery. He closed his eyes and sighed, then reopened them and gazed down at me.

"Kuja, I…I'm sorry," he stated, rising rigidly to his feet. With a loud crack, a sharp cry of pain, and a spray of blood, the ungodly wing detached itself from the spine of its bearer and fell to the floor where, within moments, it rotted into a pile of bone. After the conclusion of the grotesque event, I resumed watching Sephiroth as he marched across the damaged gymnasium, retrieving his coat in the process, still bleeding from the gash in his back.

"Sephiroth!" I heard Yuffie shout as she and her friends quickly followed him out into the hall. At the same time, I made out my sister's voice as she and a few others, including Faris, entered the arena to collect me. "Kuja!" she shrieked as she dropped to her knees beside me. I made to sit up, with some difficulty, but Terra helped pull me the rest of the way. "Are you alright?! Did you break anything?!" she inquired, before removing my jacket and raising the hem of my shirt. "Oh my God, Kuja! Your back!"

"What's wrong with it?" I asked, flinching as she placed her hands on a poignantly sore area.

"It's bruised from your shoulder blades down to your pelvis!" she wailed. "Don't worry! Sis is gonna take good care of you! Faris, can you carry him for me? I want to get him back to the seats so I can ice his back." Upon Terra's request, Faris hoisted me into her arms, blatantly ignoring my protests.

When we arrived at our destination, Jenova's voice resonated throughout the stadium, declaring the match a tie and congratulating the participants on such a wonderful display. I was thoroughly uninterested in her praise, so I concentrated on Terra, who set out my trench coat, which she had remembered to retrieve, and deposited herself onto it. She requested for Faris to lay me across her lap, facedown, and, as soon as I was in place, a thin layer of ice formed around my sister's hands, which she began to glide slowly along my skin.

Despite the mind-numbing relief from the cold, I couldn't prevent myself from musing over the one-winged angel that had irrefutably saved my life.

* * *

"Sephiroth!"

_Dammit! I can't believe that just happened!_

"Seph! Stop!"

_All of the fucking effort I've made over the years to keep this a secret, wasted!_

"Sephy!"

_And not just in front of the whole fucking school, but in front of him!_

"Please!"

_The look on his face…the fear…_

A hand grabbed my shoulder roughly, and my newfound guilt stopped me from shrugging it off. My steps eventually slowed, then stopped altogether as I exhaled loudly. Immediately, hands were on my back, examining the massive wound left behind by that damned monstrosity.

"Oh my God, Seph. What the hell was that?" Yuffie screamed, tearing off a piece of her sleeve to cover up what she could of the torn skin in my back, from which I shifted away quickly.

"Don't touch me!" I yelled almost in her face.

"Sephiroth, you know that's not gonna happen! I've gotta take care of this!"

"C'mon, Seph," Vaan sighed. "We have to get you to a hospital. That's gonna get infected if we don't do something about it."

"I'm not going to a fucking hospital so the doctors can all gawk at me and call me a freak!"

"Then at least allow us to take you to the nurse so that she can attempt to stop the bleeding!" Quistis joined in. "There's blood everywhere!"

"No need," I growled in response. "I can take care of this myself."

There was a small whimper behind me, and I turned and looked down to see Vivi, his eyes hidden beneath his hat. My face softened a little at his obvious fear, only to revert to its angry glare as I slammed my fist into a nearby wall.

"Dammit!" I shouted, pissed off at myself again. "See? This is what I do to people! This is why I've tried for so long to keep myself under control!" And with that, I stormed from the building, the oak doors standing no chance against my rage.

I did a lot of thinking while walking, which calmed me down to the point that the adrenaline wasn't holding down my pain much anymore. I had redressed in my trench coat so that no one passing by would see the bloody mess on my shirt, which I became even more grateful for as I entered the supermarket where my mother worked. She was at a check-out lane, helping an elderly woman bag her groceries, and gave me a worried glance once she noticed I had entered the store.

"Seph?" she called as the old lady walked outside. I approached her, wincing slightly with every step, which brought on an uncomfortable shift in skin and fabric. "Did it happen again?"

I merely nodded, and she took my hand, leading me to the break room. Another worker was already there, and my mother politely asked her to assist any customers for a few minutes. The girl groaned a little, but agreed, and left the room.

"Mom," I started as she sat me down near a table, "I'm sorry…for all of this. The new schools, the new jobs, dad, this damned wing-"

"Sephiroth," she interrupted calmly. "What happened between your father and I was just that: between us. You can't blame yourself for it. And I've already told you that I'm more concerned about furthering your education than making money. As for this…" she trailed as she brushed a sterilizing wipe across my injury.

"I actually can blame myself for that," I grumbled, and I could feel my mother's hands tense up against me. Neither of us enjoyed discussing the origin of my curse, so we had agreed not to. That's why, whenever it was brought up, we would both get really anxious.

From behind me, I heard a sigh, then the opening and closing of a door. Soon, there were two pairs of feet in front of my own. I grumbled quietly, then turned my eyes up to see Yuffie and Vaan, both staring at my spine with curiosity, before Yuffie moved behind me. I could then feel her hands shuffling around behind me as well.

"You scared us, you know," Vaan asserted.

"I scare a lot of people," I replied dryly.

"Sephy," Yuffie whined in annoyance, "We're not talking about that whole wing situation. Vaan meant that you scared us by running off like that with a hole in your back. Something could've happened to you!"

"Plenty has already happened to me," I said, my voice darkening. "What's one more stupid accident? And why are you here anyway?"

She huffed loudly, then Vaan answered, "We followed you, wanting to make sure you'd be alright. Quistis stayed back with Vivi – who you scared the shit out of with your yelling, by the way – to ask Jenova to excuse you from school for the rest of the day."

"Well, I'm fine."

"Seph," my mother cooed, softly pressing an alcohol-covered gauze bandage onto my wound, causing me to hiss lightly. "This isn't being fine. Don't push people away out of pride. Yuffie and Vaan were right to follow you. What would you have done if you would have bled out on the street?"

I opted for silence instead of answering her, knowing that she was right and any resistance would be idiotic. For several minutes there was silence, occasionally interrupted by my mother asking Yuffie or Vaan to get her something. Finally, the time came for me to be sewn up, and the needle and thread were sterilized and prepared.

"You ready, Sephy?" Yuffie asked, patting my left shoulder. I bit down on the sleeve of my coat and nodded, bracing myself for the pain. Before the first stitch, however, the door was opened and steps sounded on their way towards my chair. A soft voice spoke to my mother then the hands on my back were gone, as well as three of the people formerly in the room. I raised my head and looked over my shoulder, flinching once again, and looked through the silver covering my face at the Shivan eyes shyly darting away from mine.

"H-Hey Sephiroth…" he stammered, blushing. I couldn't help but smirk around the leather in my mouth at his reaction. It was flattering when you could do that to a person. But it wasn't like he didn't affect me as well.

_Was my heart beating this fast earlier?_

He took the now empty chair behind me, picking up the first aid supplies. I hummed confusedly, causing him to snap back up to me worriedly.

"I-I-I…um…your mother…needed to get back to work, and…um…the others…and school…"

I spit out the sleeve in my teeth and raised a hand to stop his rambling. "Can you work a stitch?" I asked simply, and he nodded quickly.

"I trained in First Aid and White Magic under Mrs. Gainsborough. She's one of the best healers in all of Alexandria," he assured.

"Very well. Go ahead," I said, then added, "I-I'm sorry…about today. I didn't mean to let that happen."

He smiled slightly, then motioned for me to turn back around. I did so, taking my coat back into my mouth, biting down on it. I felt his hands rest weightlessly on my skin, and he inhaled a deep breath.

"Don't worry. I wasn't scared," he promised as he began.

* * *

There were surprisingly few winces or gasps from my patient as I sealed the gaping wound to the right of his spine. Either he was good at hiding pain, or he was used to this form of it. I could only try to think that it wasn't the latter.

I still hadn't been informed of what it was that had caused such a mutation in him, nor had I understood why he hated himself so greatly for it. To me, nonetheless, it was absolutely beautiful. The graceful arc, the ebony sheen, and, most of all, the fact that it had shielded me from the destruction of a fallen gymnasium lamp.

"You know," I began slowly, testing for his reaction. When he offered me none, I continued, "Your skills are quite impressive, especially for someone so inexperienced."

He grunted.

I pulled another line through the irritated skin, further drawing the sides of the chasm together. "And that energy wave? Truly astounding."

He grunted again.

"Um…Oh! How you handled that katana was wonderful! You behaved as if it were another piece of your bone," I complimented, trying to stir him.

He grunted for the third time.

I sighed, then tried again, saying, "You were very powerful against my magic. That Blizzara never even stood a chance against you."

This time, he turned his face to me with a raised brow, and I felt myself warm inside at knowing he wasn't entirely trying to ignore me. "What?" I feigned. "Do you not know what that is? Do you know any magic? Or their names, at least?" I teased, smiling brightly so he would comprehend that I wasn't trying to offend him.

He shook his head, grunted, then growled as he removed the material in his jaws. "Fuck that," he hissed at the inherently evil cloak, and I giggled accidentally, hiding my grin behind a wave of lavender. He slipped a glance to me, the returned to his original position before speaking.

"No. I don't. I've never studied magic, and especially not in Fynn or Damcyan," he explained, and I continued with the needle in my hands. Without a medium to muffle himself with, Sephiroth's pain became a little more obvious to me, so I resumed our conversation as to distract him from it.

"Well, then I'll give you a little lecture. Okay, there are three core branches of offensive magic, or Black Magic: Fire, Thunder, and Blizzard. Each element is specialized in certain aspects of combat; Fire for strength and force, Thunder for agility and intelligence, and Blizzard for vitality and spirit. You're still comprehending this, right?"

He nodded.

"Good. Anyway, there are different tiers of strength for core magic. You have standard, '-ara', '-aga', and '-aja'. These are simply suffixes applied to the name of a magic as its power grows. So, third-tier Thunder magic would be…" I trailed, wanting him to answer.

"Thunderaga?"

I shook with quiet, but not muted, laughter. "Close. Since these suffixes are…well…suffixes, for lack of a better word, they replace the original of the standard name. For this case, Thunder would be now called Thundaga. How about second-tier Blizzard?"

"Blizzara?"

"Correct!" I yipped, a little more excitedly than I had expected.

"So, that ice spell you used on me, which could have skewered me several times over, was only second-tier?" he questioned loudly.

"Indeed. Though spells may be categorized and leveled, the power of their caster is what truly determines their might. If you were to attempt Blizzaja on me at this moment, I would walk home with a minor chill and the workings of a cold. Now, if I did, there would be nothing left of this store but frozen rubble," I informed, smirking proudly.

"How long have you been using magic?"

"I could draw out a decent Thundara by the time I could ride a bike. Not that I would've needed to. Ride a bike, that is. I had already learned how to levitate with Float at the age of three."

"Who pushed you onto magic so early?" he asked, a hint of concern in his voice, causing me to smile even wider.

"My mother, at first, followed by my sister. Both of them admired my natural skill for spells, and wanted me to pursue them. I still believe that Terra only thought that it was 'pwetty'," I mocked in a babyish tone, bringing Sephiroth to chuckle. His laughter made me melt, and I barely snared a sigh as it pushed on my lips.

"Was Terra the girl with you that first day?"

I affirmed, and then returned to our lesson. "There are also secondary elements of spells: Wind, Water, Earth, Poison, Dark, and Light. These spells don't follow normal rules, they have unusual names, and their power can be difficult to control. Water and Wind are possibly the most regular of these, the first of which is typically cast as either Water or Waterga, and the second as Aero or Aeroga. Still with me?"

Another nod, and another wince from the continuing sewing.

"Earth is tricky, normally only cast as Quake, which is a very independent spell. If you're not careful, you could create a sinkhole or level buildings with seismic waves. Next is Poison, also called Bio, a biological magic that taints the blood of its victims, killing them slowly. I, personally, despise Poison magic."

"That leaves Dark and Light, right?"

"Yep. See? You catch on quickly," I assured, pulling another stitch through, causing him to flinch. "Sorry."

"I'm used to it," he stated, causing me to deflate a little out of pity. "Continue, please."

"Mhm. So, Light magic, usually called White Magic, is pure, concentrated spiritual energy. It's mostly used for restorative or supportive spells, but there are two offensive Light spells: Holy and its fourth-tier, Holyja, which are amazingly destructive."

He hummed his appreciation, and I proceeded.

"Dark magic is very focused on alteration and exploiting weaknesses. Demi, which temporarily divides space itself, Gravity, which, as the name states, increases the downward force of mass, and Dark Holy, a corrupted version of Holy, are all forms of Dark magic."

"Interesting," he concluded, so I resumed focusing on my work.

He sat quietly for a few more moments, and my hands made gentle work of repairing him. In these seconds, I began to appreciate the feel of his skin, the broad curve of his shoulders, the glint in his right eye every time I would catch it sneaking a glance at me. I finally decided to pounce on the fact.

"You sure like to look at me a lot," I informed shyly, giggling as he quickly turned his face as far from me as he could. What he hadn't noticed was that I had already tied the final knot in the thread, so I silently hovered sideways around him, my face aligning with his from about a foot away. He attempted to avoid me again, but his eyes lingered slightly longer than the rest of him.

"What of it?" he defended, scoffing as if it would detract me.

_From what? What am I trying to get out of this?_

Instantly, my guard was back up, and I could tell he had noticed. I aligned myself perpendicular with the floor before settling to it, backing away quickly as Sephiroth stood up before me. His lips raised mischievously, further increasing my panic, and I dropped my bangs in front of me to hide it.

"What's this? From what I hear, you're quite the socialite at school, yet here you are, running away," he taunted, and my common sense couldn't stop me from trying to defend myself.

"Socialite? What in Hell's name do you mean by that?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that Yuffie tells me about how popular you are, so I'm curious as to why you're scared of talking."

"It's not the talking I'm afraid of," I mumbled, not meaning to actually voice the words.

"Ah. What is it, then? Do I scare you?" he accused, trying to seem offended, which I blindly fell for.

"N-No!" I denied, raising my sight back to him. "I already said-"

"I know what you said, but the way you're acting is entirely different," he cut me off. I wilted in guilt, pressing myself against the wall at my back. I yelped when two arms flew past me, their hands slamming onto the surface, inches away from my either side.

"S-Sephiroth?" I breathed, my pupils widening as they locked onto his. His gaze was unnerving; hungry. I grew incredibly hot, and could feel the reddening in my skin. My first attempt to escape came soon after the warmth trailed down my chest, and to my waist. As expected, it was futile, for he leaned his chest in my direction, closing off my exit.

"Kuja?" he responded. I gulped at the growl in his voice, and his mouth came closer to my own, now only a finger's length away. "Is this what's making you so nervous? Being so close?" I could only nod as he inched nearer.

_This is…what I want…right? _I glanced down at the parting lines of peach. _Yes…this is…_

"Kiss me…" I sighed, closing my eyes and losing hold on my thoughts, but not caring. His breath was on me, warm and sweet. I could almost feel the presence of his lips centimeters from my own, and I knew that I wanted them.

"Sephiroth, I-" a woman's voice halted from the door. My eyelids snapped open, and I barely managed to suppress a scream upon seeing Mrs. Crescent in the doorway, looking at us with surprisingly little shock. I turned to Sephiroth, who grumbled and stood straight, pulling his arms back to himself.

"Sorry about that, Mom."

"No! No. I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were doing well. Apparently you were very alright," she teased, chuckling, and my cheeks flared scarlet once more. Sephiroth rounded back to me and grinned at my reaction.

_What the fuck was I just doing?!_

"Better than you think," he told her, and I shied away from him again.

"I-I'm terribly sorry, Ma'am…" I apologized, my hair falling forward as I dropped my head. She simply smiled and waved away my remorse, then closed the door behind her as she left. I then felt a hand on my shoulder, and I peered through the lilac mist hindering my vision. I was met by those wonderfully verdure eyes, and focused on anything but them as embarrassment filled me. "I-I should be going…Terra will be wondering where I am."

"Did you not tell her where you were going?"

I laughed anxiously. "Um…no. I don't even think that she knows I'm gone," I admitted.

"Well, let's get you back to her!" he said determinedly, reclothing himself. I gaped at him, sure that he was slightly insane.

"You're going back to the academy like this?"

"Why not?" he asked, grinning. I knew I wouldn't be able to stop him, but I still tried.

"I refuse to allow it," I asserted, crossing my arms. Suddenly, the floor and I were no longer connected, and my stomach was placed on a firm angle. "W-What the fuck?" I exclaimed as I realized he had hoisted me onto his left shoulder. The pain in my back was representing itself to me now.

"Such foul language, Kuja," he chided playfully, and, after about ten seconds of struggling, I forfeited.

"Fine," I consented with a sigh. "But at least let me walk."

"I think I'll just keep you up there. You won't be able to trip and fall on any other guys as long as I'm holding you."

"Hey!" I shouted, flustered by his teasing and ensuing snickers. "Th-That was a-an accident! You scared me!"

"So you fall over every time someone scares you?"

"Shut up! That's the only time that has ever happened!"

"I'm sure it is," he replied sarcastically, and I huffed, relenting to his carrying of me as we left the break room.

"Good luck, Kuja!" I heard Mrs. Crescent call to me from the check-out, and then we were outside. The walk back to Alexandria Academy was surprisingly smooth, even from my shelf. I supposed that Sephiroth was just being gentler with his footsteps than he usually would. Eventually, we made our way to the school grounds, and he deposited me onto my feet.

"Uh…thank you…" I said unsurely.

_What am I supposed to say?_

He smiled down to me, then kissed my cheek, whispering, "Thank you," into my ear, and proceeded into the building, leaving me breathless and stunned on the sidewalk. After about a minute, I recollected myself and followed his example, heading for the gymnasium. I entered and headed left, where I could already see the head of green-blonde charging down the stairs.

"Kuja Branford!" my sister crowed, waving her arms menacingly at me. I chuckled and covered my smile with the back of my hand. "Where the fuck were you?! What would compel you to just up and leave with an injured spine without fucking telling anyone where you were headed?! You scared the hell out of me, Kuja!"

"I know, Terra, but there were some broken seams I needed to sew shut before the day was out," I informed, sure that she wouldn't understand the second layer of meaning in my statement.

"Well, don't let it happen again!" she scolded, and dragged me up the rows of seats where she returned to watching the Debut battles with Faris. I, on the other hand, was watching the familiar silverette across the room as he was swarmed by a dark-haired ninja and her cronies.

"Good luck," I wished him, knowing he would need it.

* * *

"Sephy!" the girl screeched as I climbed the risers to where her, Vaan, Quistis, Vanille, and Vivi were situated, the last of which was avoiding my gaze.

"Yuf," I responded, still looking at the small mage. She noticed, and called for him. He looked at me, then away again. "Dammit," I mumbled, then approached him. "Vivi? Look, I'm really sorry I got so angry earlier. If I scared you, then I feel even worse. That's the last thing I wanted to do to anyone."

"It's okay. I just…you were…really angry, and it was...frightening," he explained quietly.

"I know. But that's not who I normally am," I promised, smiling. "I don't want you to have to be afraid."

"Blah, blah, blah!" Yuffie interrupted, dropping into the space to my right. I sighed and pat Vivi lightly on the shouder, then turned to her.

"Yes?"

"Did you guys do it?"

"What?"

"You and Kuja! Did you do it?!"

"No, Yuf. We didn't do anything," I answered, shaking my head.

"Well damn! I had this perfect image in my head of how he'd sound getting fucked by you! 'Oh, Sephy! Sephy!'" she moaned, trying to mimic Kuja. I snorted loudly, trying not to choke on my laughter.

"That's kinda how he sounded when he begged me to kiss him," I admitted.

"What?!" she howled, gawking at me like a madwoman.

"You heard me," I smirked, leaning forward and placing my elbows on my knees to support my hunched state.

"He 'begged' you? Really?" I heard Qustis pipe up from behind me, and I smiled.

"So he may not have literally pleaded for me to kiss him, but the way he said what he did was all the convincing that I needed to believe that he was thinking that way."

"Well, what did he say?" Yuffie asked, bouncing around next to me, clutching my arm.

"All he said was, 'Kiss me,' but the way he said it…" I shuddered a bit at the thought, and Vanille burst into giggles.

"Gettin' a lil' excited there, are we?" she teased, and I retreated into my hair with a chuckle. Unfortunately, she was right.

_Damn. This is what he does to me?_

"I've had a decent amount of both girlfriends and boyfriends, but I've never behaved like this with them before. It's normally just a pathetic little fling, then me avoiding them as much as physically possible," I explained.

"You little slut, you!" Yuffie wailed, faking disgust. She then scoffed and very blatantly adjusted her breasts and stretched with a yawn, purposefully causing her shirt to ride up to her belly button. Next, she spread her legs and leaned back, propping herself up on the seats behind us. "I've never met such a whore in my life! 'Cause, y'know, you can't actually meet yourself."

Vaan then shot down her argument. "You've talked to yourself in the mirror before, haven't you?"

"Dammit. Okay, Seph. You got off the hook this time!"

I simply laughed and continued to look at the pit before me. I noticed a boy with incredibly spiky, blonde hair and a monstrous brick of a sword. I asked Vaan about him, and he replied, "That's Cloud Strife. He's a bit of an ass on the outside, but he's good when you get to know him. And don't even ask about the sword. He won't say anything about it to anyone. Last person who asked actually tried to grab it, and nearly had their fingers broken."

"Heh! Give you three guesses to figure out which teacher he's fucking, Seph!" Yuffie challenged.

"You mean, 'getting fucked by,' Yuffie," Vaan corrected, grinning.

"Right! Oh!" Yuffie shouted suddenly, jumping to her feet, grabbing my arm again. "Speaking of teachers fucking Cloud, Leonhart wanted to talk to you!"

I gagged from trying to stop a string of cackling. "What?! Leonhart and that kid?!"

"Yeah, yeah," Yuffie dismissed. "But he wants to talk to you about classes, so let's go!"

"Just don't let him come on to you, too!" Vaan warned as Yuffie pulled me behind her, and I waved to him, then the rest of the group.

"Leonhart only has eyes for Blondie, so don't get any big ideas!" Yuffie told me. I raised a brow at her, but she continued, "Not like you'd need him though. You've already got yourself a nice little entrée."

"You know, Yuf, he's not food."

"Wouldn't stop you from eating him like spaghetti, would it?"

I hacked at the newly formed lump in my throat, trying to regain my balance. "Yuffie!"

She roared loudly, not slowing even as I hopped after her, ready to topple at any moment. Fortunately, we made it to Professor Leonhart before I did, and Yuffie released her iron grip on my forearm.

"Ah. Sephiroth Crescent. Just who I wanted to see," Professor Leonhart greeted me.

"Yes. Yuffie had said you wanted to speak to me about my classes?"

"True. You may go now, Kisaragi," Leonhart aimed at Yuffie, and she huffed before walking away. "I spoke with Jenova after your 'exit' earlier, and we've arranged for you to have your first three class periods with me every day."

"Three?" I asked, surprised.

"One period of training, one of studying, and another of training."

"What exactly will I be studying, Sir?"

"Techniques, history, and styles of weaponry. It's important that you understand the basics and origins of a weapon before you attempt to wield it, no?" I nodded and looked at him expectantly. "Glad you understand. Oh, and if you wish to keep that hair of yours, I suggest you bring in some rubber bands, ties, ribbons, whatever it is you need to use to hold it back." I nodded again. "Good. Now, off with you," he finished, and I began my walk back to my seat, only to be stopped by another familiar teacher.

"Instructor Rikku?" I asked, confused.

"Your sixth period is open, I hope," she said excitedly. I told her it was, and she jumped at the opportunity. "Great! You've got Agility Training with me, then!"

"Um…okay?"

"See ya tomorrow, Sephiroth!" she called, running off to another student. I headed for my seat once more, making it back with no interruptions this time. Yuffie greeted me happily, then asked what Leonhart had wanted.

"I have first through third period with him, and sixth with Rikku," I informed, and she squealed happily about something. "What?"

"We have Rikku at the same time!"

"Oh, really? That outta be interesting. You two seem very alike."

"I like to think so! She's kinda like a role model for me, so its refreshing to hear that. You'd better be ready to run, though!"

"Um…why?" I asked.

"Hello! Agility Training? Basically code for 'Run-Your-Ass-Off Class'!"

"That sounds fun," I said with as much sarcasm as I could. My stamina was never something to brag about.

"It'll be fine," she assured. "Besides, your little boy-toy across the way," she pointed in no specific direction to the other side of the gym, "is supposed to be in that class too. Even mages need to be able to dodge an arrow or two."

"Really?" I perked up, a little more than I had thought I would. Yuffie smirked and pat my head.

"Excited to see him dripping with sweat? Or is it the showers afterwards? Either way, Kuja all hot and wet is just such a pretty picture, huh?"

I visibly shivered, and Vanille leaned her chin on my shoulder from behind, whispering, "Now might be another good time for that hair of yours." I could feel the pink in my face, and quickly pushed the silver over my shoulders into my lap.

"Dammit, Yuf," I laughed, but I couldn't deny that what she said was true. A wet, naked Kuja? Very nice to think about.


	4. Signs of Change

_Author's Note: I don't know about all of you, but I'm getting excited about this story! I've always loved KujaxSephiroth, so to be able to write it is an amazing opportunity! I will also start replying to reviews from here on out, so look out for that at the bottom of the chapter!_

* * *

My day typically began with my sister and I flailing around relentlessly, screeching in an attempt to rouse Zidane. For someone so usually energetic, he slept far too often, but Terra refused to allow him to miss school.

"Wake up or I'll pour water on you again!" she threatened, poking his forehead repeatedly.

"No you won't," he grumbled in response. "You hate doing laundry too much to ruin my sheets."

Terra looked to me for assistance, and I nodded, smiling slyly.

"We all know that I wouldn't have any problem taking care of them."

"You wouldn't dare," Zidane claimed, squinting his eyes in angry defense.

Out of absolute spite, I flicked my wrist in my brother's direction, muttering, "Water," and a veil of fog materializing around him. The cloud thickened quickly, condensing into a globe of clear liquid, surrounding the blonde boy in his bed. I held the spell in position over him for a few moments more, releasing only when he started to splash about, writhing from the lack of air.

"Fucker!" he shouted, tossing a drenched pillow at my head. A simple brush of my fingers and another word, and the projectile was mirrored back towards its wielder.

"That was magically generated water, dear brother. Reflect still applies to objects altered by it," I explained, grinning proudly. He was very simple-minded at times, but his heart and empathy compensated for such a disadvantage.

"Bastard!" he roared past the brick of soaked feathers, clearly proving my previous thoughts wrong. "You always hide behind your fancy spells and tricks!"

"I'll accept that, so long as you drown in them," I stated, turning and exiting the room, leaving behind the now-doubled-over Terra to motivate our youngest sibling. I returned to my own den and approached the massive wardrobe, swinging the doors wide on their hinges with a gentle cast of Aero.

"Sorry," I whispered to each article that I deposited to my left. I don't understand why apologizing to my unfavored clothing eased my mind, but it did. I sighed upon realizing that I didn't know how I should dress for the day.

"Why don't you wear this?" a soothing voice offered from the doorway, and I, with surprise ridden on my face, turned to see my mother holding a thin, silky scarf. The fabric bled through each shade on the color wheel, cycling the same pattern several times along its six feet of length.

"Mom," I breathed, dumbfounded.

"I meant to give this to you yesterday, sweetheart, but I lost track of time and wasn't able to finish it before you left," she admitted, sorrow in her sapphire eyes.

I leapt forward, clasping my arms around her and resting my chin on her shoulder. Her long, ivy-green hair tangled into my bangs, and she giggled as we tried to separate the fibrous mess. Once I could see again, I stood in front of her, examining the scarf as she slipped it around my neck. Considering that we were of almost equal height, it was hard to hide my teary joy from her.

"Rydia," my father's voice interrupted, breaking us from our time-lost instant. My mother reflexively tried to draw the fabric from my throat, as did I, but we weren't quick enough to remove it before the tall, blonde man entered.

"Where is-" he began, but froze entirely upon seeing the vibrant cloth resting on my shoulders. "What the fuck is that?"

"M-Mateus-" Mother panicked, frantically searching for an excuse.

"You told me that _that_," he emphasized, pointing at the scarf, "was for Terra."

"T-Terra didn't want it so I-I gave it to Kuja rather than-"

"Burn it as you should have done?!" he interjected, his face exuding fury.

"Mateus-"

"I want that _thing _destroyed!" he demanded, but his wife didn't move. "Now!"

Suddenly, Terra and Zidane burst through the door, shocked by the commotion. They looked between the three of us, comprehending the situation immediately.

"Dad," Terra said calmly, reaching for his arm. He brushed her off coldly, and the pain on her face was heartbreaking. She had been in turmoil over his actions ever since he awoke from his coma.

"You will dispose of that by the time I return tonight, or else I shall do so, along with everything else in this room," he growled, hate burning his words. My mother lowered her head, falling to his will, and he took his leave, nearly running down the two teens in his path.

My mother, with water brimming over her eyelids, quickly shuffled from the room. Zidane followed directly after her, but Terra remained for a few moments more, knowing that just her presence comforted me somewhat. I whipped away from her in shame, however, discarding the blasphemous neckwear onto my mattress.

"Kuja," Terra sighed, retrieving the scarf. She gave me one last glance, which I noticed in my mirror, before disappearing into the hall.

Ten minutes later, I was dressed in simple, blue-gray jeans, in which my tail was hidden, and a fitted shirt. As I reached into my closet for a belt, though, someone began to strangle me from behind, rendering me unable to cry for help.

_Would he truly try to kill me? _I screamed in my head. Father seemed to have grown to hate me plenty, but enough to go so far as to physically attempt to be rid of me? Luckily, though, the object constricting me loosened within a few seconds.

"What…the…hell?!" I wheezed, spinning to meet Terra's sympathetic smile. She patted my chest, and I dropped my gaze to see the prismatic cascades of color falling down me. "Huh?"

"Sorry. Hide it in your locker before the day is out," she instructed, and wiped a tear from my cheek that I hadn't previously noticed. With a firm hug, she galloped back into the hallway, leaving me to finish my preparations.

For the rest of the morning, I found myself unable to remove my hands from my mother's gift, which made holding my books a very difficult task. Terra, however, took notice of my fidgeting, and, just as we entered the student car lot, she spoke.

"Kuja… That isn't Dad. You know that, right?"

I nodded.

"He would never act like this before. He's always loved that you are who you are, feathers, tail, rainbows, and all."

I nodded.

"And Mom… well, she tries. She tries so hard, but he just can't be controlled anymore."

I nodded.

"But he still loves you; loves all of us. It's just… buried. His head was seriously fucked up from his physical trauma."

I nodded.

"I keep hoping that he'll snap back, you know? Like, maybe he'll hear just the right words or see just the right moment, then everything will unscramble itself in his mind. I just… I want...my Daddy back…"

I froze, listening to the sob break her voice as she used a name for Father that she hadn't since she was twelve. Turning my face an inch to the left, I was able to peripherally watch as my sister – my best friend – broke into tears, clutching the steering wheel tight enough as to force the blood out of her fingers.

"I-I j-just want him t-to come b-back…" she whimpered, trying her damndest to remain composed. Unexpectedly, familiar, violet-blonde ponytail appeared between the two of us, and I had to register that Faris had literally jumped into the back seat of my sister's car and thrown herself around the weeping girl.

"Terra," she cooed, using a tone of voice I would have never expected to hear originate from her. A nurse? Yes. A grandmother? Sure. Faris? Not in a millennium.

Upon hearing her name, Terra threw her hands to her eyes, wiping away the evidence of her weakness.

"Faris!"

"You shouldn't cry," the older girl asserted. "It doesn't suit you."

"Huh? Oh… I know…"

Faris looked to me with a quizzical glance, and I mouthed, "Family issues." At that, she snapped back to Terra, searching every inch of exposed skin on her arms and face.

"Did he hit you again?" she asked with a snarl, and my sister quickly denied. "Then, what happened?"

"_This _happened," I stated, holding out the ends of the scarf.

"What? Oh. Another homophobia flare-up, eh?" she groaned, and I turned away, sighing. I grabbed my things from the floorboard, bid a quiet farewell, and made my way for the school, dreading what could go wrong next.

When I entered the building, I was immediately met with an answer. All eyes flew to my flamboyant accessory choice, including an increasingly familiar set of jade irises.

"For someone with such loud fashion sense, you're awfully quiet," Sephiroth observed, and I simply hummed in answer. I had expected such a reply to deter him, but he continued his attempts to invade my thoughts. After the preceding day, I was incredibly worried about them escaping any more than they already had.

"So, Yuffie says you have class with Rikku during sixth period?" he pried, but I refused to humor him.

"Mhm."

"Interesting."

It might have been the way that his voice slid through the word, but, whatever the reason, it made me want to see his expression as well. I was thoroughly disappointed to raise my head to witness him completely emotionless and looking straight ahead, as if he weren't even speaking to me at all.

"Interesting?" I inquired with a bit more venom than I had anticipated. If I was going to be miserable, then why couldn't he, at the very least, acknowledge it?

He nodded, but remained silent as we continued down the hall. Just as I reclosed myself into my shell, though, he asked me, "What's your favorite day of the week?"

"What the hell kind of a question is that?" I scoffed, flipping my bangs out of my line of vision, being cautious around my feathers.

"One made up of words," he answered simply, and I had to fight back a grin.

_No! I'm depressed, so he's not allowed to make me laugh!_

"So?" he lured, and I reluctantly took the bait.

"I guess I'd have to say…Friday?"

"Why Friday?"

"Uh…it's last school day of the week, I suppose."

"Hmm," he sounded, then shrugged.

"What? Was that not a satisfactory response?" My voice revealed far too much of the hurt that his nonchalant attitude was inflicting on me.

"No. Just a wrong one."

"What?" Now I was confused as well as upset. "Then _please _explain why my opinion is incorrect," I snapped.

"The correct answer was Thursday."

I stared at him, awaiting an explanation.

"Thursday gives you the excitement of knowing that the next day is Friday, but has none of the disillusionment that Friday itself does."

"Disillusionment?"

"Yes. People are always so eager to get out of school or work and to pursue their social lives, but let's be serious about this: no one ever has nearly as much of a social life as movies claim. In reality, the people that get so worked up over Friday merely go home to watch TV or play video games, only to get bored of it all within a few hours."

I was surprised by the depth of his answer. It wasn't because I thought he was unintelligent or anything. I just hadn't expected such insightfulness from a person that, as of the day prior, couldn't even name a Blizzard spell.

_That's not entirely his fault, though._

"True," I admitted, directing it at both my conscience and my friend. Just then, a strange thought entered my mind, so I decided to ask about it.

"Are… Are we…friends?"

Sephiroth peered at me from the corner of his eye, a smirk pulling at his mouth.

"The impression I received from you was something along those lines," he teased, and I could feel the blush betraying my skin. I stepped subtly to my right, distancing us, but he followed.

"I-I didn't… That was… You… Sorry."

"Sorry?" His smile disappeared, but his focus on me seemed to heighten.

"Um… Yes. Sorry…about yesterday."

"You have no reason to apologize."

"But I feel like I do. I did push you into that duel, after all."

"No one ever said I had to fight back."

"I did…repeatedly."

"Okay. So, no one _important _said I had to fight back."

"Hey!" I defended with a pout.

At my childishness, Sephiroth chuckled quietly. As much as I wanted to be defiant, I couldn't deny that his laughter softened me more wholly than a Gold Needle.

"You know," he began, but let the sentence die out. I, though, would have none of that.

"What do I know?"

"It's nothing."

"Obviously it's something."

"It isn't, really."

"If you're hiding it, it is definitely something."

"What if I'm hiding nothing? What if the treasure chest you're about to open is piled high with only oxygen?"

"Then I'd be frustrated, indeed. I know, however, that you aren't one to do those sort of things."

"And how do you know me so well?"

"I can just tell from the way you act and talk that you'd much rather get to the point than run in circles, so, thusly, I can deduce that you would expect that from others and would rather them come outright with things than trail around after them. Either way, you aren't a dead-end type of person." I puffed my chest out slightly, feeling prideful of my reasoning.

"That doesn't necessarily mean that I dislike games. Sure, I prefer to be straightforward, but I can be quite the sadist if the moment calls for it."

I turned to him, mouth open with unspoken words, but was paralyzed by the animalistic gleaming in his eyes, which were trained on me sharply. He stopped with me this time, facing his entire body in my direction. I acted out of instinct, pressing myself against the lockers behind me.

"What? Are you scared of me or something?" he asked, his face expressionless, but his gaze shimmering.

"N-No…"

"Y-Yes?"

_This is much too familiar._

I shook my head narrowly, jostling my thoughts as if such action would bring about the materialization of a 'Reset' button. Of course, with my luck – or lack thereof – that didn't happen. I resorted to words, despite how greatly they were failing me in this situation.

"No. I'm not…scared of you."

He took a step forward.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" I shouted, trying to seem certain.

Another step.

"You're shivering, so you seem pretty scared."

"No…"

One last step, followed by his arms at either side of me, barring me in.

"Then, what are you?"

I swallowed thickly.

"… Terrified…"

The world around me suddenly flashed a blinding white, and the pull of gravity loosened substantially. I could feel the matter that made my body stretch as it was drawn though a new, temporary dimension, then reform as it found its destination. I landed harshly on the tiled floor of Professor Yuna's classroom, my back pressed against one of the full-length windows.

"Kuja?" my instructor's voice rang, and a quick flurry of footsteps clattered towards me, though I couldn't decipher from which direction. A pair of what I assumed to be hands pressed themselves against my chest.

"Cura!"

My unadjusted eyes were flooded with a blue-green light as healing energy was poured into my flesh. Within seconds, my breathing evened out, my sight returned, and my limbs lost their unbearable heaviness.

"Kuja? Can you hear me?"

I groaned at the stiffness in my joints, but nodded.

"Good. Now, should I be an more alarmed than I already am at the fact that you resorted to casting Teleport to get to my class?"

"No, ma'am… I'm…alright."

"Very well. Take a seat then," she ordered maternally, her worry plainly written in her features.

"Yes, Professor," I complied, growing dizzy from lightheadedness as I stood. I made my way to an empty chair, which happened to be near one of Terra's friends, Rosa, the girl who had given the two of us Sephiroth's address.

"Ugh," I grumbled, remembering just how stupid and embarrassing that first meeting had been.

"What's gotten into you?" Rosa yawned, noting my despair. She never was quite as graceful in the early morning as she was around noon.

"Nothing," I replied blankly, but cringed at the following, unvirtuous thought.

_Nothing…yet._

* * *

"Arms straight!"

"They are!"

"How the hell does that look straight to you?!"

"What are you talking about? They're straight!"

Leonhart scoffed. "About as straight as you are."

I turned to him, glaring, before smirking to myself at a memory from yesterday.

"You're obviously one to talk, sir."

He inspected me curiously, his eyes narrowed, before he gave up and asked what it was that I supposedly knew.

"Oh, don't worry. I, unlike most clouds, won't rain on your parade," I mused, grinning wickedly. Fortunately, Leonhart was a smart man, and he caught the innuendo that I had thrown at his trenched face.

"How the fuck do you know about Cloud?" he growled, suddenly becoming quieter.

"I actually have two reasons for that. One: A magical creation known as a 'rumor mill'. Two: I'm not blind."

"What do you mean?" His brows furrowed even further south.

"This morning, I just happened to be heading towards your class a little early, and I spotted a certain blonde closing both your door and his jeans," I revealed, sniggering at his shocked reaction.

"No way! That… I…" he sputtered, before sighing and massaging his temples. "I'll curve your grade if you shut the hell up about him."

I was a little caught off of my guard at his offer, but, seeing as I still didn't understand entirely what I was doing, I wasn't going to turn something like that down. I hummed my agreement, then returned to my sword-holding lesson. No, not fighting. Holding.

Twenty minutes later, I looked back to him. "Hey," I started. "Why did you want me in your class exactly?"

"Sure wasn't for your pretty face," he snarked over the top of a book.

"Don't forget that I could say the same for you."

He snorted, and I took it as a sign of amusement.

"I train students in specialty blades."

I nodded and looked around, realizing just how unique the weapons of my classmates were. There were a few more katana, and some seemingly-normal swords with large hooks jutting out from the tips of the blades, but the real gem was the sword with a revolver barrel implanted just above the hilt, and it was resting in a glass display case at the front of the room. I was almost mesmerized by the thing, and I took a few steps towards it, wanting to examine its structure.

"Impressive, huh?" a lower-pitched, female voice asked. My brain plugged itself back into my body, and I whirled around to see the speaker. I was surprised to see the person before me: a decently tall girl with chocolate eyes and almost unnaturally yellow hair, which was pulled back in a massive fish-tail braid that fell to the middle of her back. Her sword, however, was what really commanded my attention.

"What? Have you never seen a greatsword before?" she mused, lifting the metal beast with one hand. It must have been at least four feet long and one wide, and the steel itself was as black as onyx. I was probably gawking, because the girl laughed and said, "Well, I suppose not," before returning to her original place in the room.

"You have two of them?!" I almost shouted, earning a glare from Leonhart. Once again, the blonde laughed, but this time it was more of a triumphant shout. She pulled the other weapon into her left hand and lifted both of her arms effortlessly above her head.

"Chaos!" she roareded, spearing the first sword - the black one – into the chest of a training dummy, effectively cutting it in half down the middle. This was followed by her yelling, "Cosmos!" and skewering the head of her already-mutilated target with the second blade, which was almost blindingly white.

"Woohoo! Go Agrias!" a boy shouted from behind me, and the girl, whom I supposed had to be Agrias, returned to me, brushing her braid back over her shoulder. She had the biggest grin that I had ever seen plastered on her mouth.

"Agrias Oaks," she introduced, holding out her hand to me. I reached to take it with my own, but she made an obnoxious buzzer sound. "Wrong!"

"What? Do you want me to shake your hand with my foot?"

"No. I want to see your sword," she said flatly. I gave her a strange look, but her hand remained stretched out before her. I eventually sighed and yielded my katana to her, and, the second the hilt was in her fingers, she swung it at me, the curve of the steel barely missing my nose.

"What the hell?!" I roared, eyes still wide.

"Choose one. Chaos or Cosmos," she demanded, and I glanced to Leonhart with a look that said, 'Hey! What the fuck is up with this crazy little blonde bitch here?!'

His eyes responded with, 'Quit being a pussy and just pick up a fucking sword, dumbshit.'

I groaned and stomped over to the human-sized pincushion, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I was probably going to look like him soon. I also couldn't decide which blade I should choose: Cosmos or Chaos, or hear the oversized metal knife cutting through the air to my right.

"Shit!" I yelled, jumping away from my own weapon as it carved into the mannequin before me. I looked behind me to see Agrias, her face now covered by a mask of pure determination. Before I could react, she brought the steel down on me again.

"Shit!" I repeated as the cold alloy bit into my shoulder. I had entirely forgotten about white magic, so this was going to be much more realistic than my battles the day before.

I could feel the biting cold replaced by warmth as blood pooled on my collarbone, and I reached randomly behind me, desperate for a sword of my own to defend with.

I gasped as my fingers wrapped around something, not because it was the blade – it was indeed the handle – but because something in the weapon flowed into me, repairing the previously-inflicted damage to my clavicle. I didn't have much time to think on this, though, for my katana was hurtling for my face this time.

With a flash of black and a rain of sparks, the force before me was stopped. I had closed my eyes as to avoid them being damaged, but I didn't need to open them to know which sword had spoken to me.

"Cosmos," Agrias breathed, and I reopened my eyelids. Before me was nothing but whiteness, which caused me to question the black I had seen moments before. I was answered as the weight above retreated and I was able to hold the white greatsword in front of me.

"Oh," I stated, noticing that the hilt of the sword was as dark as the blade of Chaos, which I then turned around to view, seeing the Cosmos-pale grip. "How interesting."

"Congratulations. You passed," the blonde swordswoman, who was now behind me, spoke. I looked to her in confusion, and she continued, "I am Agrias Oaks, Chief Officer of Security at Alexandria Academy, and a captain in the military of Alexandria herself. I, as well as three others, am charged with evaluating the integrity and righteousness of new students at this academy each year. You have passed my test."

"Test?" I asked stupidly.

"When you grasped Cosmos, you felt the surge of energy in yourself, did you not?" I nodded, and so did she. "It was no accident that you chose as you did. In fact, Cosmos herself chose you. She has decided that you are of noble and just cause, and that you shall be forever welcome into the sanctuary of these walls."

I looked down at the sword in my hand, and focused on feeling the flow inside of it. The more I concentrated, the more I could feel the aura channeling between the two of us, as if it was making itself a part of me. Suddenly, both weapons vanished, Chaos into a cloud of black smoke and Cosmos into a thin mist.

"I shall take my leave," Agrias declared returning my katana to me, nodding to Leonhart, and she made for the door.

"Agrias! Er…I mean, 'Captain Oaks'… Thank you."

She looked to me and smiled, then exited the room. I spun around as I heard Leonhart chuckle, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I guess it's now completely official. Welcome to Alexandria Academy."

* * *

"Thank you, Professor Yuna. Thank you…for everything."

"Kuja, anytime you're having issues like that, you know you can come to me," she assured, her heterochromic eyes soothing and gentle. I suddenly found my feet incredibly fascinating.

"Thanks…again."

"It's quite alright. Now, off to class."

I smiled to myself as I opened to door and stepped into the hall, waving one last time to my instructor, but an obnoxious red-and-yellow duo intercepted me and dragged me off to my locker.

"First off, great scarf," Refia began. "Secondly, what the fuck was all of that before first period?!"

"Yeah," Rosa joined. "I'd like to know too, seeing as you drained your own energy entirely to get away from someone."

"Oh, it wasn't just someone," the redhead scoffed. "That new guy? Yeah, he's totally laying the moves on Kuja."

Rosa's face suddenly brightened, and a wide smile appeared on it.

"Aww! Good for you, Kuja!"

"No!" Refia shouted at her adoptive sister. Refia's family was an entire cult of redheads, but, considering the girls' close friendship, they took the blonde in as one of their own when Rosa's parents were killed in some sort of accident several years ago. Expectedly, none of them ever mentioned the subject.

"What? Why?" the other girl asked in confusion, her lips a straightened line once more.

"'Cause the Failboat Captain over here keeps running away every time the situation starts to get steamy! It's like the TV power going out in the middle of a movie's sex scene!"

"Refia!" the blonde chastised putting her hands on her hips firmly.

"What? It's true!"

I was too embarrassed to be outwardly furious, so I simply turned away in shame, hiding my severely pinkened cheeks from the pair.

"Leave it be!" Rosa continued. "If Kuja has apprehensions towards his…predicament, then allow him to process it all." She returned to me with an apologetic chuckle. "Ignore her blatant imbecility." The redhead next to her shrieked her disdain, but Rosa ignored her. "_I_ am satisfied with seeing you with the potential to be happy."

"Thanks," I mumbled shyly, drawing a few locks of hair into my fingers and twirling them distractingly. "I'm glad you understand."

"I still think you should just fu-" Refia grumbled, but was muted as Rosa weaved a Silence spell over her, preventing her vocal cords from moving. She soundlessly screamed what could have only been a monstrous strain of profanities at her sister, before storming off in search of a dose of Echo Herbs.

"Continue to ignore her," the now-lone sophomore jested, and I felt myself lightening, as the more brash of the sisters was no longer present. "Now, since she's distracted, run off to class before she comes back for you!"

I laughed and hugged her swiftly, then bid her farewell as I departed. Soon, I was forced into an attempt to traverse through a pack of directionless, uncesoring freshmen.

_These cretins are so infuriating. And they seem to believe I can't hear them? Idiocy at its finest._

Call me insane, but after being fully unable to shove through a clot of homophobic dwarves, my mood was not exactly even. I never did, however, take initiative to quiet them. Fortunately, it wasn't even necessary that I should.

"The next one of you bastards I hear say 'Gay,' 'Fag,' or 'Homo,' I shall personally castrate. Now get the hell out of his way."

I revolved hastily, looking up slightly to meet the blood-red gaze of my Black Magic professor. She was burning with frustration and intolerance of the behavior of the students around her, and I wasn't quite fond of it either.

"L-Lulu!" one of the miscreant-children gasped, and the entire herd disbanded within seconds. I giggled hushedly, then bowed my head.

"Thank you, Professor."

"Sure," she responded mundanely. She then walked around me, heading for her classroom. I followed, seeing as my second period was in said room.

"Kuja!" a small voice greeted from a desk in the front row as we entered.

"Hi, Vivi," I answered, grinning at his excitement. He was pressed as far forward in his desk as his body would allow, his legs swinging several inches above the floor. I knew that he had skipped a total of three grade levels, but, even for a twelve-year-old, he seemed excessively tiny.

"Are you excited for the school year?" he asked eagerly, his face shadowed by his wide-brimmed cap. Even so, his eyes shone brighter and more golden than usual.

"I am, but I don't think I'm quite as enthralled with it as you are."

He squealed with happiness, kicking wildly in front of himself. "I can't wait! I've been practicing my Flare and Comet spells all summer!"

"Really?" Professor Lulu spoke, seemingly intrigued. "I can't wait to see that." She gave the little Black Mage a curious smile, and his bouncing increased tenfold.

"I promise that I got really good at them!" he proclaimed, reacting well to Professor Lulu's encouragement. He jumped to his feet, standing in his chair. "Kuja!" he yelled, skipping across the tables of each of the desks, finally landing on the surface closest to me. "Do you wanna see my spells?!"

I couldn't help but laugh at how adorably energetic he was. "Sure, Vi! Let's wait until class starts, though, okay?"

"Alright!"

He dropped to the floor, charging out into the hallway, calling for someone that must have walked by.

"That child…" my instructor sighed in amusement. She flipped the tuft of black bangs from her left eye, leaning onto the top of her lectern. I nodded in agreement, but warned her of the breasts spilling from the low collar of her blouse. "Eh. As if I care."

I smiled at her dismissal, shaking my head. I turned for the grid of tables, finding a suitable one in the second row. Finding the correct workspace could often be a tiresome business. If you placed yourself too far in the front, you were either desperate or always called upon. If you opted to sit in the back, though, you were never able to hear any of the lesson.

"Kuja!" yet another student shouted, entering the room. I peered slightly over my right shoulder to the entrance.

"Montblanc!" I gasped, moving out of my chair and kneeling to hug the moogle. He fluttered across the space between us, his miniature wings flapping sporadically.

"It's great to see you again, kupo!"

"You too," I laughed. I always loved hearing the strange word from their race.

"Do you also have Miss Lulu this period, kupo?" he chirped as we both returned to our original postures.

"Indeed, I do."

"Yay!" he cried, throwing his arms in the air. The pompom hanging high off of his scalp bobbed wildly at the moogle's movements.

"It's Monty!" Vivi announced as he reentered Professor Lulu's classroom, dragging a thoroughly displeased Terra after him.

"Vi, I can walk by my- Kuja?!"

"Terra?!" I half-screamed, leaping for her. How had it not occurred to my sister and I to compare our schedules the night before? "Oh my God! This is going to be, by far, the best period of the school day!"

"Lulu? Did you arrange for this to happen?" Terra inquired, beaming at the dark-haired sorceress in question.

"Hmm. Perhaps it was just a coincidental slip of my memory," she replied, smirking. She then held up her index fingers to her lips, and Terra and I laughed before embracing each other firmly once more.

"Have you been flaunting your scarf all morning?" she nagged, grasping the multi-hued cloth. I shied away, groaning humorously. "You haven't, have you?!"

"No, I haven't. But I swear that I will after this class!" I played along.

"If you don't," she glowered, "I will cut you…off from your ride to and from school."

"Oh! But however shall I travel here! Woe is me!" I wept through false tears.

"You'll walk, bitch," she cackled, and I collapsed to the ground before her, clutching her hands in mine.

"No! Dear sister, you wouldn't do that to me!"

"Only if I am satisfied with your confidence upon leaving this room," she declared firmly, and I resumed standing.

"You have the most outlandish tactics when it comes to psychiatry," I commented, and she patted my shoulder.

"Only 'cause I love you."

"Terra!" Vivi interrupted, tugging on her skirt. "Sit by me! You too, Kuja!"

Montblanc inhaled loudly. "But, then how will I sit next to you, Vivi?!" he wondered, causing them both to fall into a three-minute long session of coordinating. Luckily, we were granted ten minutes between each class, leaving us with about two more once the pair was finished.

"Okay!" Montblanc and Vivi proclaimed simultaneously. "Kuja, you will sit here!" the former directed, pointing to the third table in the second row.

"Terra!" Vivi piped up. "You will be directly right of Kuja!"

The two of us, barely choking back our laughter, took our destined places, watching as Montblanc dove in before me, adjacent to Vivi, who planted himself ahead of Terra.

"Satisfied?" my sibling snickered, crossing her legs and leaning back. I did the same, minus the leaning. I instead stacked my arms on the wooden plane preceeding me, shifting my upper weight onto them.

"Yup!" the two sophomores agreed in together. Not thirty seconds later, they began to shuffle around awkwardly, becoming impatient.

"Miss Lulu, can we just start early?" Montblanc whined. The professor, however, ignored him.

"Miss Lulu! Please?!" Vivi joined, only to be unacknowledged as well.

"Miss Lulu!" Terra complained sarcastically, prompting the boys in the front row to continue their droning.

"That's cruel," I accused with a smile.

"Yeah. That's the point'" she answered, an evil curve in her lips. She then tossed herself against me, dragging her seat along the floor.

"What?"

"You'll never guess who I have Leonhart with next period!" she whispered enthusiastically.

"A unicorn?"

"If only! But it's not a unicorn!"

"Then who is it?"

"Your boyfriend!" she squealed far too loudly. Several other students had entered the room by now, and almost each of them had snapped their attention towards me.

"He's not my boyfriend!" I spat back quietly, hiding my reddened cheeks behind my barricade of hair. Conversation with and/or about Sephiroth was now almost physically impossible to make through without a blush, and I was not very appreciative of that fact.

"Yet!" she inserted, and I dropped my forehead into my elbow, muffling my anguish. After a few moments, I elevated my eyes, glaring out of the corners of them at Terra, who slipped a folded piece of paper into my arms. I sat upright, unfolding it .

'Admit it,' the note read. 'You want that boy.'

'And if I say I don't?' I scribbled with a pencil I had drawn from my pocket.

A few more seconds of listening to the scratching of pencil led later, I read, 'Then I torture you for lying.'

'Torture me? How?'

Another pause, then, 'I'll just show Seph some of your pictures from that summer before your freshman year.'

"You wouldn't!" I breathed, my pupils expanding.

"But I would."

I could see that she was entirely truthful, so I was forced to relent.

'Fine,' I stabbed onto the page, reverting back to silent communication. 'So I like him.'

'No. I said that you have to admit that you _want _him!'

'What?!'

'Pictures!'

'Okay! I want him! Are you happy?!'

"Very!" she spoke, but I wouldn't understand why until after class, if I could even call it that.

The next forty-five minutes were divided between five percent of the time, which consisted of Professor Lulu explaining what we could expect to learn throughout the year, and ninety-five percent, which was mastering the skill of condensing a Thunder spell into a sphere, something I had learned three years prior.

"Look! I did it!" Terra boasted, suspending her orb of electricity between her palms.

"Well done," I congratulated, having already surrounded my person with spheres of each magical element. She vocalized some form of disgruntled noise, but perked up considerably as the bell tolled, releasing the students into the halls.

"Aha!" she shouted, holding out the half-folded note.

"What?" I shrugged.

"Proof!"

"Huh? No! Terra!" I wailed, but she was already off to a classroom I had never known the location of to display my confession to the very man it concerned.

* * *

_Thanks for Reviewing!_

**qtcat0616 – **I like to write as if the readers don't really know the material, because not all of them will. I'm glad that you enjoy it nonetheless, and it will indeed contain yaoi. ;D

**JasmineMoon** – I'm very happy that you don't have any complaints! I get self-concious/doubting about my writing a lot and I worry if the flow works as well for others as I seem to think it does. And I don't think I'd ever be quite so vile as to actually use Dora the Explorer as a threat! … Maybe…

**sychopenguin5** – You approve of the fight scene?! Yes! You were the one I was most worried about pleasing when it came to that! Hope you continue to enjoy them in the future!

**the real Marik Ishtar** – Thanks for reviewing! It means a lot that you did! As for Sephy, just remember that he's not the mature adult he is in FFVII. He's still got some learning to do, plus, being thrown into a place like Alexandria Academy when you're so used to a world that shuns magic and the like could perturb most anybody!

**CecilyRoseMidnight** – It's always wonderful to know that I can make people laugh! I adore Yuffie as well, and Sephiroth even more! I have to say, though, that Kuja, being my favorite Final Fantasy villain, is also my favorite character at the moment. It's good that the magic explanation confused you, by the way, because it's not supposed to be entirely clear just yet. Magic takes time to understand, even in the games themselves, which are astounding! You're missing out on an absolutely fantastic series!


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